Where Angels Fear To Tread
by Wandering Letters
Summary: After the outbreak has decimated mankind, survivors hear of a place where they can rebuild. This sanctuary's promise brings people from all over the country to it...some make it and others don't. Join a group of survivors as they attempt to make their pilgrimage. How will things turn out? Rated T for now but will become M. Takes place several years into the outbreak. Pre Last Of Us
1. Prologue: The World As We Know It

**(A/N): So I'm back again my friends! I'm sorry for my long absence but I needed some time to find myself and what I want to do with my life. Now that I've sorted it out, I decided to undertake this project for a Facebook group that I'm a part of. I've made very good friends from this group and this is my way of showing my appreciation. This will be set in **_**The Last Of Us**_** universe but apart from Falling Hopes, which is my other story. I hope you all enjoy this!**

* * *

**Prologue: The World As We Know It**

* * *

_**Radio Broadcast From Gilfer's Sanctuary**_

_Attention all survivors._

_Know that you are not alone out there. There is a place you can go to and we welcome all. We have shelter, we have a renewable source of water and we have electricity. We have doctors on hand and we can provide security for you and your family if you are travelling with them._

_You don't have to go through these harsh times alone. We are situated just on the border of Glacier National Park. Please, do not be afraid. We are here to help you all!_

* * *

**Somewhere Near The Border Of Canada- 2 PM**

"Did you make sure that the cinders burned out?"  
"Sure did!"

I smiled as I ruffled her hair.

"Let's get going then,"  
"Are we almost there?"

I looked down to see that she had a disheartened expression on her face. I smiled and knelt down to look at her.

"We're almost there; we can get the radio signal now so we can't be too far," I explained.

Those words seemed to breathe new life into her expression as she smiled at me.

"Lead the way!" she said.

I slung the backpack over my shoulder as I did just that.

I couldn't believe a full year passed since we set out from Florida. We were very lucky to have made it this far and it was by no means an easy journey. Most of the time was spent hopping from settlement to settlement, begging for food or providing for ourselves. I had luckily managed to procure a bow, a machete, a crowbar and a large backpack for us to use. My little sister Flora had her own pack in which she stored all of the food and perishables that we had, insisting that it was safer with her due to my tendency to scout ahead to ensure the path was safe. I had to do this now…because the last time I didn't, it nearly cost us everything…

* * *

_**Three Months Ago- The US Highway**_

"_COME BACK HERE YOU FUCKING THIEVES!"_

_I ran behind the cars as Flora followed me, shouting the locations of our pursuers as we stopped to catch our breath. I handed her the bow and took out the pistol I had just managed to steal._

"_You know what to do," I said._

_She gave me a confident nod as I sprang to my feet and ran forward, taking cover behind the van in front of me. I knew that despite her age and small frame, Flora was a much better shot with a bow than I was and I had no idea how much ammo was left in this pistol I had managed to take from a car. Evidently, it wasn't abandoned when two men followed us back and attempted to kill us._

_I looked around frantically for them and much to my surprise, they had disappeared._

"_JORDAN! BEHIND YOU!" she screamed._

_I looked only to be met with a fist. I fell to the ground but quickly recovered and raised the gun to the man, only to have my arms grabbed and my body collide with the van. Before the man could remove the gun from my hands, Flora shot an arrow and clipped the man in the shoulder. He screamed in pain and I took the chance to slam the butt of the pistol into the side of his head, stunning him. I then fired a kick, connecting with his left leg which caused it to give out, sending him to the ground like a sack of bricks. A gunshot ringing out and the ear-shattering sound of bullet meeting metal snapped me from my thoughts as I looked behind me to see the second man, aiming at Flora. I looked at her and she had no idea he was aiming her up as her attention was on the man I just kicked to the ground. I sprinted as quickly as my legs could carry me before tackling her to the ground as another gunshot rang out. I could feel the bullet connect with my arm and once I landed, I immediately rolled to the side and fired a shot beneath the undercarriage, startling the man and forcing him into cover._

"_Are you okay!" she said.  
"This is nothing…we have to get that guy," I said calmly._

_I was in a tremendous amount of pain but I knew if I faltered now, she would lose hope herself and that was not something I could afford to let happen right now. Sucking in a deep breath, I rose to my feet as I looked around for him. I looked towards a side mirror and my eyes widened as I noticed him sneaking around to our left flank. I leaped over the car and moved behind the van, silently telling Flora to duck behind the car. She obeyed me and held a brick in her right hand that she pulled from her bag. I looked at her and knew immediately what her plan was. The moment the man popped out of cover, Flora threw the brick as hard as she could and it connected with the man's forehead. I took the chance and leaped over the car's hood and tackled him to the ground. I ended up sprawled beside him and before he could reach for his gun, I kicked it away and managed to grab onto his neck with my good arm. I squeezed tightly and used my legs to make sure that his couldn't move. He squirmed in my grip, trying desperately to escape the grip but it was no use once my legs locked into place. His struggling soon began to slow down and after a short while, it ceased altogether as he exhausted himself. I wasn't able to apply enough pressure to close his windpipe so I did the next best thing…I violently jerked my arm to the right and snapped his neck loudly._

_I heard the sound of metal plunging into flesh and I could only conclude that Flora had chosen to finish off the other man with her knife. I sighed in relief as I released the dead bandit in my arms and rose to my feet, wincing in pain at the wound in my arm. I picked up his gun and searched his body to find an extra clip as well as some painkillers. I approached Flora and she had already searched the other man, showing me a bandage._

"_The bullet is still inside?" she asked.  
"I think it just grazed me," I replied._

_She cut the sleeve from the shirt to expose the wound and thankfully, I was right; there was a deep cut but there was no bullet inside._

"_When's the next stop?" she asked.  
"About two hours from here," I replied.  
"Not taking the chance, sit down and let me patch it up," she ordered._

_I knew there was no way I was going to say no to her when she spoke to me in that tone so I obeyed her. She took out the first aid kit and immediately set to work. I guess I was thankful that she actually bothered to read so much into first aid In addition to letting our mother teach her about it; it's come in handy more than once. She expertly applied the hydrogen peroxide to disinfect the wound before looking at it carefully, most likely looking for any shrapnel or foreign objects. Once she was satisfied, she removed the ointment from the box and applied it thoroughly. She then wrapped a bandage securely around my arm before putting the kit away. I removed my jacket from my bag and put it on, knowing full well that exposing my injury would only encourage more encounters like this one._

"_Does it hurt a lot?" she asked.  
"I'll manage," I replied._

_She secured her bag on her back once more as we began to walk. I swallowed hard._

"_I should've looked ahead…then we wouldn't have gotten ambushed like that," I said._

_She held my hand._

"_You couldn't have known they were hiding…you can't see everything," she said._

_I looked down at the ground, thoroughly disappointed in myself._

"_Don't be so hard on yourself…it worked out in the end because we got more ammo and painkillers that we could use sometime later," she said._

_I nodded slowly but made a note to myself to never make that mistake again because the next time I was careless, it could very well be our last._

* * *

**Present Day- Later That Evening**

"Are you tired?" I asked.

Flora nodded as she sat down on the log. I removed my pack as I took out the machete.

"I'm going to get some firewood," I said.

She nodded as she kept a pistol in her hand. I quickly found a suitable tree and removed some of the branches. Once I was satisfied, I gathered a few rocks to isolate the flame and I laid it all out to form a small fire pit. I then rubbed two of the sticks vigorously until much to my delight, it ignited with the small amount of lighter fluid I poured onto them. The fire soon became self-sustaining as I removed the sleeping bags from our packs. Flora had already started getting dinner together; opening the two cans of beans and removing a large loaf of bread from her pack. She quickly set up the tripod and placed the two cans over the fire to allow them to warm as she neatly tore the bread in half and handed me one of the pieces. I smiled at her as I began to dig in. I handed her a bottle of water and she accepted it with a smile.

"We're almost there…" she sighed.  
"Yeah…I really hope so," I replied.

She leaned her head on my shoulder.

"I'm tired of walking…I really just want to sleep for a while…" she groaned.

This was not the life a fourteen year old girl was supposed to be living but ever since the spread of the Cordyceps Fungus, everything's been plunged into chaos. I had no idea how this thing managed to mutate to the extent where it could infect humans rather than just ants but after our parents turned, I did not think twice about taking her with me to protect her. We didn't share the same father but we shared the same mother; my father was killed in a car accident when I was younger and my mother married another man. When I was 8 years old, Flora was born. From the moment she was able to walk, we bonded quite well and any person looking from the outside would never be able to tell that we were only half siblings. I decided to keep my father's last name while she kept her father's. Our mother was infected because she inhaled some of the spores from a corpse and I knew that if I didn't decide to stay home that day instead of going to work, Flora probably wouldn't be alive right now as she attacked her. It tore me apart when I was forced to kill her…but there was no way I was going to allow Flora to be torn limb from limb.

As we settled in for the night, I held her close to me as my eyes shut down.

I really hoped we were coming to the end of our journey…because even I don't think I can keep this up for much longer.


	2. New Faces

**(A/N): Keeping the gold flowing with chapter 1! I hope you all enjoyed the prologue. It was my first time attempting to write in that kind of format so forgive me if it sounded unlike the rest of my work. As always, please read and review! You know how much I appreciate hearing from you guys!**

* * *

**Chapter 1: New Faces**

* * *

**Somewhere Within The Canadian Borders- 8 AM**

"Jordan!"

I shook the sleep from my senses as I looked at my sister who looked almost panicked.

"There are people outside!" she cried.  
"Hostile?" I asked.

She shook her head

"There are…two women and a man outside," she explained.

I nodded as I rose to my feet and put on my shirt. I followed her outside, grasping the sword I managed to get from the trading post a few days ago along with a pistol in my pants pocket. I kept my right hand on it while I grasped the sword with my left as I reached the wall.

"Identify yourselves!" I exclaimed.  
"We're not here to hurt you! We just want to talk!" shouted one of the women.

I couldn't see her very well from up on the wall.

"Are you armed?" I asked.  
"We are but we'll put them down!" said the man.

I nodded as I slid down the ladder and reached the gate. I gave Flora a suggestive nod as she held the rifle in her hands and took a position within sight of the gates but not visible to everyone else. I opened the gate and true to their word, the three of them removed any weapons they had and laid them on the ground. My eyes scanned them for any sort of lie but much to my surprise, I could sense nothing.

"We…just need a place to stay…we'll work," said the man.

I looked at him for a moment before raising my hand, signaling Flora to lower her rifle.

"Pick up your weapons and come in," I replied.

I immediately pulled out my pistol as I saw one of the women reach for her bag but when she rose up, the hood over her head fell down, revealing her face. I turned away immediately, closing my eyes as not to draw attention to my interest. The three of them came inside and I shut the gates.

"How did you two end up in a place like this?" asked the man.  
"We found it abandoned so we made it our home," I replied.  
"Very nice," he replied.

I could hear stomachs grumbling and I shook my head with a smile.

"There's food inside; we were just about to sit down for breakfast so help yourselves," I said.

The three of them nodded as they entered the house. I didn't even see Flora get beside me as she smirked at me.

"You're not usually this welcoming," she said.  
"Are you implying something?" I asked raising an eyebrow.  
"Nope…I just know you think the one In the purple jacket is pretty," she replied.

I rolled my eyes.

"You can't lie to your little sister!" she snickered.

I raised my hands in defeat.

"Don't be the cold fish you are usually…maybe we can actually make some friends this time?" she asked.

I ignored her as I entered the room.

* * *

**One Hour Later**

"Graphics Design and hunting? I'm impressed," I said.  
"I'm probably older than all of you," he said shrugging.  
"Must've been a tough deal…losing your wife and kids," I said.

He nodded as I put a hand on his shoulder. He seemed to appreciate the gestured greatly.

"Anyway, now you know my story," he said.  
"Nice to meet you Mabry," I said.

Flora smiled at him as I looked to the woman next to him.

"Alright, what's your story?" I asked.  
"My name is Maria," she said.

Her accent sounded unmistakably Australian.

"Funny how I ended up all the way here right?" she asked, evidently noticing that I recognized her accent.  
"Quite," I replied.

She laughed softly.

"I was practicing to become a singer…but you know, this fucking outbreak thing kinda throw a wrench in It," she cursed.

I nodded softly.

"I was studying to become a writer myself," I replied.

She seemed to have appreciated that I was into the arts as she was.

"I was on a flight to visit some friends here but sadly…I ended up having to run for my life when they all turned," she explained.  
"You'll be safe here," I assured.

Her nervous disposition appeared to have calmed down in response to my words.

"I don't know what I can do…I'm not really skilled at anything…I mean Mabry can hunt and she can cook…I don't know how I can help," she sighed.  
"You can sing for us and keep our spirits high!" said Flora with a smile.

Maria immediately lit up at my sister's words.

"You'll catch on soon enough," I said nodding in agreement with Flora.

I then turned to the other woman…though I tried my best to keep my attention away from her. To say she was beautiful would do her no justice and I could tell that Flora was laughing manically in her head.

"My name is Doan Le…I was in college until…well,"

She gestured almost comically towards the environment.

"I didn't have any of my family around…because I had just moved out from my parents and I was living alone," she explained.  
"I'm sorry…" I said automatically.

She looked at me as if trying to believe my words but once she saw the expression on my face which was full of genuine concern, she smiled at me.

"Well…Maria was half right when she said I could cook…I can cook but...not very well…in fact, I'm really similar to her except I learned how to dance as well," she explained.  
"Duets all night!" shouted Flora.

The two women started laughing and I couldn't help but crack a smile.

"Thankfully, cooking was one of the first things I learned how to do," I said.

Much to my surprise, Doan and Maria looked at me with beaming eyes.

"Does that mean you'll cook more like you did this morning?" they asked almost in unison.

I chuckled loudly.

"I'm usually the one that cooks so I'll do my best," I said.  
"What about your story?" interjected Mabry.

I looked at him and nodded. Flora immediately sat beside me as I began to tell them what happened to my parents…

* * *

**30 Minutes Later**

"So you've been taking care of your sister this entire time?" asked Mabry.  
"She can take care of herself…but I look out for her as any older brother would," I explained.  
"I can't imagine how it must've felt…being forced to kill your mother and travel all the way from there…it must've been rough," said Doan.  
"Roughest year of our lives I think," I said looking at Flora to which she nodded I agreement.

I rose to my feet and looked at my watch.

"Work time," I said.

I picked up my sword and slung it across my back and picked up the bow by the door. I then tossed Mabry his rifle and turned to Flora.

"Since Mabry has hunting experience, he and I will go out and see if we can get some more meat because with three more mouths to feed, we need some more game," I explained.

I turned to Doan.

"Flora is going to teach you how to mix herbs and apply them so listen to her carefully," I said.  
"She knows all this?!" she said in disbelief.

Flora raised an eyebrow.

"I read a lot you know," she said putting her hand on her waist.  
"Who do you think treated all of my wounds?" I asked.

Doan raised her hands in defeat and nodded with a nervous laugh. I turned to Maria.

"You're on laundry duty today Maria…thankfully, a friend came here three days ago and got the generator going so we have electricity so it should be a piece of cake," I said.

Maria nodded.

"Got it boss!" she said with a smile.  
"I'm not your boss…we're all working together here," I said.

Maria childishly stuck her tongue out at me as Mabry and I left to hunt.

* * *

**Four Hours Later**

"I gotta admit…I would never have thought you were such a good shot with a rifle from just looking at you," I said.  
"I get that all the time," he replied rolling his eyes.

I dragged the dead deer behind me on a prepared makeshift barrow and I thanked myself for getting two of them from the trader at my last visit as Mabry managed to bag not two but three deer on his own. I was only able to get two deer but I also managed to get two turkeys. We were set with meat for a good while assuming that everyone doesn't chew through it like a swarm of locusts. I suddenly heard a loud gunshot ring off in the distance. I knew exactly what set it off.

"What's going on?" asked Mabry.  
"Take the food to the girls; I'll be back," I said.  
"Where are you going?" he asked.  
"Someone's on our turf and I'm going to take care of it," I replied.

I secured the sword to my back and ensured my pistol was in my jacket pocket. I raised my hood and drew up my mask as I dashed off to find out what set off the trap.

* * *

**A Few Minutes Later**

I hid myself behind the trees as I scaled one to look towards my trap location and much to my surprise, there was a young girl on the floor with her leg stuck in the rope. I lowered my hood and mask as I approached her. She looked absolutely terrified.

"I'm not going to hurt you," I said.

She screamed loudly and the next thing I knew, I was struck with a bat in my left leg. Feeling rage building within me, I grabbed the person before flipping them to the ground and drawing my sword. Much to my astonishment, it was a woman that I had pinned to the floor.

"HOLY SHIT YOU'RE STRONGER THAN YOU LOOK!" she screamed.

Feeling more concern for the girl, I released her and untied the rope around her ankle, setting her free. The girl ran to the woman I had just thrown to the ground and cringed behind her. I looked at the two of them before sheathing the sword.

"So what's the deal with that sword Samurai Jack?" said the woman.  
"Who are you?" I asked.

She smiled.

"Name's Zoey Lee," she said.

I had to admit that she looked the G.I Jane part but considering how weak that blow with the bat was, she definitely didn't have the strength.

"I'm Vivian," said the little girl.

I nodded at them.

"Jordan Chen," I said holding out a hand to Zoey.

She shook it as she exhaled loudly.

"Well, Vivian got stuck in that trap and I hoped that we were going to bait some bandits here so we could steal everything," she said snapping her fingers loudly.  
"How exactly did you plan to do that?" I asked.  
"Well…since it was just you, I thought I could take you but if there was more, I had that," she said pointing at the tree.

Much to my surprise, there was a compound bow leaning against it along with a quiver.

"I'm a really good shot with that thing," she said.  
"Alright then…_Lara Croft_," I teased.

She childishly stuck her tongue out at me. I quickly took the opportunity to reset the trap.

"That's a pretty good idea you have there," she said.  
"I don't live far from here so it's within earshot," I explained.  
"You can tell which trap went off and how far it is by hearing it?" she asked.  
"I took survival classes when I was younger," I replied.

She nodded in comprehension.

"Well…I know we just met and everything but…we actually need some help," she began.

Before she could continue, Vivian screamed. I looked only to see a group of Runners straight at us.

"SHIT! THE GUNSHOT MUST'VE ATTRACTED THEM!" I cursed.

Zoey sprang into action as she drew an arrow and landed it right in the forehead of one of the Runners. I quickly grabbed Vivian and pulled her into my arms.

"Follow me! Stay close!" I exclaimed.

Zoey did just that as I lured the infected into the other traps I had set ranging from pitfalls to noose traps and even whiplash traps. I was quite thankful that I was so interested in the History Channel or I probably wouldn't have figured out how to make most of these.

"You need a place to stay I assume?" I asked as we continued running.

I turned back to see Zoey nod, her expression drained of emotion.

"I understand if you don't have space…because you're not obligated to help us," she said.

I looked down to see that Vivian had fainted in my arms. I stopped running once I stopped hearing the footsteps behind us.

"Come back to our place…we can discuss it with the others," I said.

Zoey looked at me in disbelief.

"You'd trust a stranger that just hit you in the leg with a bat?" she asked.  
"I'm not leaving a fifteen year old girl out there to die and I sure as hell am not leaving you by yourself against those things even if you were fucking Legolas," I snapped.

Zoey looked at me in shock.

"You don't stand a chance on your own out there so don't question me…shut up and let me help," I continued.  
"But-"  
"I can tell that you've done something bad in the past…I don't give a damn about the past, what's important now is the present and the future…so let's get going," I said.

* * *

**Later That Evening**

"Holy shit this is beginning to feel like a harem," said Mabry.  
"Shut up," said Zoey rolling her eyes.

Flora was sitting with Vivian, clearly glad that there was finally someone around her age with her.

"How're the sleeping arrangements gonna work?" asked Maria.

I rose to my feet.

"I'll sleep outside because we don't have enough sleeping bags," I said.  
"Are you fucking insane? It's freezing out there!" snapped Zoey.  
"I have a thick jacket and there's already a couch on the roof because that's where we keep watch," I replied.

I handed my sleeping bag to Doan, thankful that Maria washed it earlier because…I didn't get a lot of time to wash things between hunting for food and gathering water from the river nearby.

"If anyone needs me, come upstairs," I said.

With that, I left the room.

* * *

**Two Hours Later**

"Jordan?"

I turned to see Flora who had a cup of tea in her hand. I smiled at her and accepted it gratefully.

"You know that none of them would've minded sharing right?" she asked.  
"Don't start you little troll," I replied.

She snickered loudly and much to my surprise, she gave me a warm hug.

"It's good to have someone my age around again…thanks for letting them stay," she said.

I nodded as she turned to go back inside.

"Good night!" she said.  
"Sleep tight," I replied.

I looked back towards the stars with a smile on my face as I sipped the tea. I spat out some of it, remembering how much I hated chamomile tea when it wasn't iced but with my body so cold, it would do a lot more good right now. A few minutes passed before I sensed a presence behind me.

"You gonna speak up?" I asked.  
"Here,"

I turned only to get a bunch of blankets shoved in my face. The voice belonged to Doan.

"I'd feel horrible if you froze out here…especially since I was the only one who didn't have a sleeping bag," she said.

I could see genuine guilt in her face and I shook my head.

"I'll get another one from the trader tomorrow…now go get some sleep," I said.  
"That's not going to help me worry less about you," she replied.

My eyes locked with hers and the concern that she radiated almost reminded me of my mother. I closed my eyes and smiled.

"Would it put your heart at ease if I slept downstairs on the floor where it's warmer?" I asked.  
"And then you get a bad back from sleeping on the hard ground? Are you insane?" she asked.  
"That's not where I meant," I replied.

She raised an eyebrow and I gave myself a facepalm.

"Flora didn't show any of you the bed quarters did she?" I asked.

Doan shook her head and I laughed loudly.

"That's my siser alright…evil little gremlin," I said under my breath.

I rose to my feet.

"If my sister remembered you tell you, there's a room in the second building that has a bunch of bunk beds…just no good mattresses," I explained.  
"Which will help how?" she asked.  
"It's carpeted…I thought all of you would've been in there where there's air conditioning as well as ample space for everyone to sleep," I said.  
"Then why are you up here?" she asked.

I fell silent upon her question, feeling memories rushing back to me as I looked down at my watch and saw the date.

"Today's the day that I killed my parents and left my home…" I replied.

Doan looked at me for a moment as I turned away.

"I always isolate myself on this day because it's the day I feel the most pain," I explained.  
"That's no excuse," she continued.

I looked at her before she flicked me in the forehead.

"We're a family now…you can't bottle up stuff like that…if you want to talk to someone about it…do so," she urged.

I had no idea why this woman had such a…_comforting_ aura about her. Maybe it was because she was so beautiful, maybe it was that million dollar smile or maybe it was because she was the first person to actually show concern for me apart from Flora. I hadn't known feelings like this since before the outbreak. I swallowed hard and looked away.

"I'm…not used to this level of kindness," I said.

Much to my astonishment, I felt arms wrap around me and a warm embrace followed soon after.

"Going through all of that…having to protect her for that full year and all the horrible things you went through even before all this…it's a tough deal," she said.

I had no idea how she was getting through my walls…it almost as if they weren't even there to begin with.

"You can come to me about anything…I hope you know that," she said.  
"You're saying this to a guy you met today?" I asked.  
"We live in a world where a mutant killer fungus makes people eat each other and for all we know, the world's been wiped out and we're just lucky…I think the rules change…especially when it concerns someone as kind as you are," she whispered.

My eyes widened and for some reason, I could feel tears jerking at my eyes. I swallowed hard and let out a breath.

"Go back downstairs…I'll join you all shortly," I said.

Doan smiled.

"Vivian knows how to make really good tea…Flora just refused to let someone else make it for you," she said with a giggle.

She must've noticed that I didn't finish the tea.

"Have her make me a cup," I asked.

She nodded and went back downstairs. I looked back towards the sky.

_"Maybe we have a shot at this after all...even if we don't actually find Gilfer's Sanctuary,"_

I picked up the blankets and made my way downstairs.

* * *

**Later That Night- Somewhere On The Canadian Borders**

"We have to keep moving you two!"  
"You think it's easy walking these long ass distances without a break? We're not the fucking Terminator like you!"

The man leading the small group rolled his eyes.

"There was smoke coming from over here...maybe we can get some help from there," he said.  
"What makes you so sure they're going to help us?"

He turned to the her.

"Does it hurt to have a little faith?"  
"I can't go on much longer...I'm exhausted..."

He looked at the other woman and nodded.

"Let's hope we'll get lucky behind door number one then...we'll wait until morning because they're probably asleep right now," he said.  
"So we'll camp out here?" she asked.  
"Yeah...let's just hope that they aren't the type that shoots on sight..."


	3. The Trading Post

**(A/N): That massive reception from everyone in the group has sent me into overdrive! Let's see how many chapters of this I can crank out before Monday! The reception is heart-warming. It means so much to me when readers enjoy my work and let me know how you feel about it everyone! Don't be shy. Leave a review or PM me a comment on it! It helps me improve my writing!**

**With that said, let's get right back to it shall we?**

* * *

**EDIT: Did a few adjustments to make the conversations a little more clear. So sorry if you were confused before! I was trying a different way of transitioning perspectives. For future reference, wherever you see this: **

**~ o ~ **

**It means it's a perspective transition so you should start trying to figure out who is talking (if it isn't obvious already). I'll clear it up here but from here on out, you're on your own :P**

**There was also a line missing from one of the paragraphs! Might be important :)**

* * *

**Chapter 2: The Trading Post**

* * *

**Early The Next Morning**

"Everyone sleep well?"  
"It was a little cold...but I'm okay otherwise,"

The man nodded but much to his surprise, he heard an audible gun cocking.

"Raise your hands and don't move,"

The man swallowed hard as he obeyed the voice. The two women who were with him obeyed him as well.

"What are you doing here? How did you get past all the traps?" he asked.  
"We're just trying to find somewhere to stay man...we don't mean any harm," said the man.

Jordan approached him and quickly patted him down to ensure he wasn't armed. He then looked down to see a girl no older than 14, still sleeping. He lowered his weapon, realizing that they truly meant no harm.

"You can put down your hands...someone with a child can't be all bad," he said.

The man lowered his hands and breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks...we were going to come to your compound once Frani here woke up but I guess we slept in a little," he explained.  
"What's your name?" asked Jordan.  
"Kyle," he replied.  
"I'm Jessica," said the woman.

Jordan noticed that she was wearing what appeared to be a waitress outfit beneath her jacket. She rolled her eyes.

"Don't start with the stares...I didn't exactly get to change out of this before shit hit the fan," she snapped.

Jordan raised his hands.

"So you were a bartender?" he asked.

She nodded, still with an unamused look on her face.

"How about you Kyle?" he asked.  
"I was studying to be an actor...till people starting going ape shit and attacking each other," he explained.  
"Sorry you had to go through that," said Jordan.

He nodded in appreciation. The trio looked down to see that Frani was still fast asleep. Jordan shook his head and smiled.

"This will be the third child I've seen this week," he said.  
"You have children at the compound?" asked Kyle.  
"My little sister Flora and another child I found yesterday near the borders of the park," he replied.

Kyle looked to Jessica and she nodded.

"I know that this is sudden...but we honestly have nowhere else to go," he began.  
"Say no more, as long as you two can contribute something to the compound, we have plenty of room...though we're going to need to make a trip to the trading post tomorrow to get mattresses," said Jordan with a sigh.

Kyle smiled and lay a hand on his shoulder.

"We won't let you down," he said.  
"I guess I can make everyone drinks...is there a bar in there?" asked Jessica.  
"It used to be a military outpost but it's been abandoned for years...it was on the larger side so there's a leisure room where there's foosball tables and an actual bar counter," he replied.

Jessica smiled.

"I'll do my best!" she said.

Jordan approached Frani before touching her cheek. Much to his surprise, Frani looked at him and wasn't at all scared.

"Are you the man who runs the compound?" she asked.  
"I wouldn't exactly say run...but I'm from there yes," he replied.

She rose to her feet but stumbled on her left leg. Jordan quickly held her up and looked at Kyle.

"She sprained her ankle yesterday...we didn't have any bandages or anything to try and help her so I was carrying her for a while," he said.

Jordan nodded and picked Frani up on his back.

"Let's get inside; my sister can have a look at her ankle," he said.

* * *

**Later That Evening**

"Thanks for cooking for us Jordan!" said Maria.  
"Vivian did most of the work," he said chuckling.

Vivian gave everyone a grin as she took the plates into the kitchen.

"You're pretty lucky to have found this place abandoned...I mean this is a pretty good place to hole up," said Kyle.  
"I'm assuming the military cleared out to try and contain the threat and they just never came back...Flora and I have been here for nearly two months," said Jordan.  
"So that's how everything's up and working?" asked Jessica.  
"I have friends at the trading post who come back with me sometimes to help where they can," replied Jordan.

She nodded in comprehension as Jordan approached Flora.

"Did she come back yet?" he asked.

Flora shook her head and Jordan sighed as if in disappointment.

"Did who come back?" asked Kyle.  
"On our last visit, we traded for a hawk who was trained to carry messages; it's how I stay in contact with the post," said Jordan.  
"What kind of stuff do they have there?" asked Frani.  
"All sorts of things...but she's a little late," said Jordan.

As if on cue, a loud screech indicated the presence of a bird. Jordan whistled loudly and much to everyone's surprised, a dark brown hawk flew through the window with a piece of paper attached to her right leg. Flora untied the note and Jordan took the hawk to her perch at the back of the room.

"What's her name?" asked Doan.  
"Freya," replied Flora.

Doan nodded as Flora smiled.

"Zack said we could come tomorrow," said Flora.  
"Did he get everything together?" he asked.

Flora nodded with a smile.

"But he said he wanted to talk to you about something serious when we get there," she said.

Jordan's face turned pale and his eyes narrowed for a moment until he shook his head and plastered a fake smile.

"What's wrong?" she asked.  
"Something we were talking about before...I'll explain tomorrow," he said.

He turned to everyone.

"We're going to take a trip to the trading post tomorrow so everyone needs to be up bright and early," he said.  
"What're we getting?" asked Frani.  
"Everything we need; Flora and I went out and gathered things from abandoned camps to trade a month back just in case...so everyone take a portion and get some things you need," he said.  
"What did you get?" asked Doan.  
"Mostly bandit camps that were unguarded so I scouted and managed to get some things that are high in demand like coffee and cigarettes," he replied.  
"Are things really that tough?" asked Kyle.

Jordan nodded.

"People will do and trade astonishing things for a bag of coffee," said Flora.  
"Such as?" asked Maria.

Flora pointed to the the crate of beans behind the counter.

"Got all of that for two bags of coffee," she said.  
"Is food that plentiful?" asked Jessica.  
"That post gets a lot of traffic so it's a pretty reliable way to stock up on just about everything," said Jordan.

He gave Freya an affectionate head rub as he picked up his jacket.

"Let's get some sleep; long day ahead of us tomorrow," he said.

* * *

**Later That Night**

_"Mom! Don't come any closer!"_

_She didn't appear to be listening in the slightest as she looked at Flora. Flora continued to put anything she could between her and her now infected mother. The door fell to the ground as I landed a hard kick, snapping it from the hinges._

_"MOM! DON'T DO THIS!"_

_My shout seemed to have brought her attention to me as she turned and immediately broke into a sprint. She managed to tackle me and I could see the golden irises, indicating that was indeed infected. I held her back as far as I could._

_"Mom...please...don't make me do this..." I cried._

_I managed to throw her off of me as I rolled to my feet and removed the wakizashi from it's sheath on the display. I stood between Flora and her. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I unsheathed the sword. She ran at us and I plunged the sword deep into her chest, aiming for the heart. She stopped moving and screamed in agony until finally, she ceased her movements. I closed my eyes and shoved her off of me as I turned to Flora._

_"We need to get out of here...I need you to be strong for me...alright?" I said._

_Flora's face was deep red and she was crying probably ten times more than I was. I hugged her, doing my best to calm her down._

_"You...you just had to...kill...m-m-mom..."_

~ o ~

I jolted awake from my nightmare, wiping the sweat from my face and trying my best to calm my breathing. I turned to see that no one appeared to be awake, not even Flora who was sleeping right beside me. I glanced at my watch and noticed that it was 6 AM.

_"Got about an hour before everyone has to get up...I'd better go set the truck up,"_

I left the room as quietly as I could.

* * *

**50 Minutes Later**

Jordan managed to load the majority of the provisions into the back of the truck. Satisfied with his work, he turned to pick up the large box of spare parts only to see that Doan had somehow awoken and was sitting on a bench, watching him.

"You work really hard...you know that?" she said with a giggle.  
"I figured I could just do it...I mean I woke up an hour ago," he replied.  
"Dream was that bad huh?" she asked.

He opened his mouth to deny but she shook her head.

"You were saying mom a lot in your sleep and you breathed a lot louder than you thought you did," she said.

He sighed.

"I was sure you were a heavy sleeper," he said.  
"I used to be a corpse when I slept...but this whole fungus people eating others kind of forced me to adapt," she explained.

Jordan nodded as he loaded the box into the trunk before securing it.

"A friend came over and managed to get these two trucks up and running again so I'm thinking three of us go in this one while everyone else hops in the other one," he said.

She nodded in agreement. Jordan was about to walk past her until she grabbed his hand.

"If you want to talk about it...you know I'm here," she said.

His eyes narrowed.

"When I'm ready...count on it," he said.

She released him as he went to wake the others up.

* * *

**Three Hours Later- The Trading Post**

"Alright, everyone's got their share so we meet back up here in an hour," said Jordan.

Everyone nodded in agreement as they set off to their tasks.

~ o ~

_**Flora**_

"So what did your brother need us to get?" asked Frani.  
"He said that we're running low on Aloe for burns and cuts and we also need to get a lot of honey because we're out for both cooking and for wounds," I said.

Frani looked at me as if I was speaking rubbish.

"You can use honey to heal cuts?" she said.

Her face cringed at the thought, causing me to laugh.

"When honey mixes with blood, it produces hydrogen peroxide thanks to the enzyme reactions between them...so it's actually better than a lot of antibiotics because it kills bacteria and makes a pretty good layer of protection," she said.

Frani's eyes widened, as if I was speaking like an alien.

"I read a lot of this stuff..." I said with a laugh.  
"That's pretty cool," said Vivian.

Vivian looked at her paper.

"I need to get spices for cooking...I didn't realize that there was so little there when I cooked last night so I need to be sure we get enough," she said.  
"He said for us not to split up because not all these people are nice to kids like us," I said.

Vivian nodded as we approached the food section of the post. Loads of stalls with people walking along the streets and the scent of fresh produce filled the air. The three of us quickly got to work, filling our packs with everything we needed to get. Vivian found every single spice and herb that she needed for cooking and actually had some items to spare for trading. Frani's job was to get sharpening stones for all of the blades and she had quite an excess of trading items leftover. I found everything I needed and I grabbed some extra things just in case; cayenne pepper was a really good way to cause blood to clot and it can also double as a cooking spice and there was also comfrey root, which was excellent at helping bones to grow back if they were broken or fractured. I stuffed my pack as much as my trading goods would allow and once I was satisfied, I decided to take Frani and Vivian to see our good friend Emile, who was a worker around here.

~ o ~

_**Doan**_

"Everything okay?" I asked.  
"We've got more than enough water according to the list so I think so," said Kyle.

Jessica smiled.

"I got all of the filters and one of the guys was nice enough to give me a shaker to use to mix my drinks!" she said.

I smiled at her as Maria walked up.

"I got the last of the bandages! There's enough in here to last us for a while as long as everyone doesn't go all Rambo," she said.

I laughed softly as I glanced down at my pack. My job was to ensure that we had enough soap for everyone. The man who ran the stall was really nice to me and gave me nearly double what the paper asked me to get. I guess being nice to others had its benefits after all!

"So what do we do now?" asked Kyle.  
"We're supposed to meet up with Jordan in an hour by the trucks...we've got about 15 minutes left," I said.  
"Then lets go find some damn clothes...I need to change out of this fucking waitress outfit," said Jessica.

I nodded in agreement as we went to see what we could get with the items that we still had left but I couldn't help but wonder one thing.

_"Where the hell did Zoey disappear to?"_

~ o ~

_**Jordan**_

I arrived at the shop and searched frantically for my friend. I thankfully found him in his stall, sitting at the door with his head down.

"I'm sorry to hear about her..." I said.

Zack looked up at me and nodded.

"There was nothing I could do...it all happened so fast," he said.

I jumped over the counter and gave him a brotherly hug.

"Tell me what happened," I said.

Zack then began to recall the horrible experience that befell him two days ago.


	4. Journal Entries: Zack

**(A/N): So we're gonna slow down a little bit and do a little gimmick I like to do with these kinds of stories. A Journal Entry! This is a think I do about every two to three chapters which allows you to get into the heads of the characters. I hope you guys can learn a bit from this because the backstory is a little bit difficult to incorporate due to the format. The story will pick up right after this. Rest assured.**

**Back to the show!**

* * *

**Journal Entries #1 &amp; #2: Zack**

* * *

_**Date: February 16th 2015**_

_Everything went well today. I was able to talk down those new guys from Toronto into giving the post a reliable source of fuel in order to keep the trade going well. In exchange, they wanted all their messengers and runners to stay at our makeshift hotel for the nights they arrive here. It made sense considering that often times, they had to travel pretty far with stops anywhere in between 3 to 5 hours of walking. Many of the runners took their time on foot because cars were essentially a bait for bandits to ambush. Many of the messengers were young guys who wanted to be useful so they didn't particularly have a lot of combat experience. All in all, a really good day today._

_I ended up spending a little less time with Irina today because I had to stay by the delivery section almost the entire day but she was as usual very happy to see me. She was such an understanding person that it was difficult to not feel guilty for doing my job; I didn't deserve someone like her to come home to. I didn't tell her how I felt about her and for the most part, we were just really good friends. I thought at times that she felt a little deeper for me but her job as part of the security response squad that was sent out to take care of any disturbances around the perimeter left her little time. She recently however decided to take a break, especially when those ex-soldier guys came in a couple of weeks ago. We were friends long before this fungus shit met the fan and I was really glad she was still with me._

_I kept thinking that things would keep getting better but the news I've been hearing about the Infected attacking people along some of the routes to this place really bothered me. One of my friends, Theodore Jackson was a part of the caravan squad and he was one of the fastest runners we had here. He routinely made trips six hours away and came back in the dead of night. As dangerous as it was, I was thankful that Runners had just as bad eyesight as we did at night and considering that he trained on how to retrace his steps, as well as running the route nearly 20 times already, I had the utmost confidence in him. I couldn't help but fear his safety because he probably had the most dangerous job of all of us and if he went down, it would be one hell of loss for us._

_Still...keeping hope was working so far. I see no reason to stop right now._

_I'll keep track of things here...and it's pretty good that I started this journal; it helps vent the stress a lot._

_Will write again once I get word from Jordan; he and his sister were due for another visit really soon and because I got those two trucks going on my last trip over to their compound, I expect he'll want a lot more. I didn't mind however...he was a good man and any man who would go that far to protect his sister was definitely a man worthy of my respect. Flora was such a little gremlin but she takes good care of Jordan whenever he's sick. I'm really glad I gave Freya to them; that girl was pretty easy to train and she knew this area like the back of her hand._

_Anyway, till next time._

* * *

**_Date: February 18th 2015_**

_To say that shit got real...is the absolute biggest understatement of the fucking century..._

_I...I still can't believe that all this happened...it came so quickly that I...I just don't know._

_It was supposed to be a routine day where Theodore was supposed to go meet a scout half way to pick up a package near Zone 7. It was supposed to be a routine patrol for Irina and it was supposed to be a routine visit to the river to test the purity of the water...but it all went to hell. Irina decided to follow me just in case anything happened and I allowed her to. We then heard a gunshot go off. After we got there...we found Theodore...dead and being gnawed on by Runners._

_I couldn't believe that Theodore went just like that...he was such a good man and definitely one of our fastest runners...and now he was gone. But the horror didn't stop there. Irina and I decided to head back but we had to return to the river to recover the equipment that I brought to test the water. When we got there...there was a man screaming in agony. Irina was a kind soul so she naturally wanted to help but when she approached him, he turned and bit her...in the neck. There was blood spraying but that wasn't the worst part of it...it was the thought of knowing that even if the bite wound wasn't fatal...she was going to **turn**._

_There was no way we could've told that he was infected...because we thought before that Runners couldn't make noises like that but this man must've just reached the point where he became a Runner because he sounded so..convincing. Irina...got infected and there wasn't a fucking thing I could do about it._

_The day before...I asked Irina out...and she told me yes. She wanted to be with me...she wanted to try something new and she even said that she looked forward to having some of my cooking...only for this to happen._

_By the time I reached her...she was barely breathing. She closed her eyes and it took everything I had to not burst into tears. She smiled at me and put a hand on my cheek. She then said:_

_"Live on...because now you're the only one of the original set of us who's still left,"_

_I couldn't contain my feelings anymore and I cried for her. I cried so much for her and she kept telling me that it was okay. She held my hand and told me that I needed to move on. She told me over and over again to do my best for everyone back at the post and most importantly, she told me that it wasn't my fault. It really was my fault; I was the one who left the equipment there...if I didn't choose to rush over to the gunshot, I could've prevented this from happening. She then kissed me on the cheek and told me that I'm going to be a good husband to a lucky woman one day. _

_I radioed for assistance and everyone arrived quickly. We rushed her back to the medical wing but much to my horror...she was infected. She wasn't at the contagious stage at all thanks mostly in part to the fact that the Runner had **just** turned. That meant she could touch others...but it wouldn't be long before she became someone to quarantine forever. I sent Freya to Jordan as I hadn't sent her back from the last message I sent and told him about the situation. I sat beside her at her bed...for hours it seemed until she woke up. Thanks to Dr. Fadel, I was aware of the states of infection. She had still not turned and she still had some time before she reached the contagious stage._

_I told her everything he told me and she cried, **profusely**. She told me that she really wanted to be there tomorrow for our date...and she really wanted to be around for longer to spend more time with me. She held my hand and despite the horrible situation...she smiled at me. She was such a pure-hearted woman that she smiled even though she knew that her death was inevitable. __I couldn't contain my feelings for her anymore and I couldn't help but kiss her...and boy did she kiss back. I had kissed a total of three women in my lifetime...but she was hands down the best one. I felt all the emotions within her through that single gesture. After a few seconds, she broke away from me and held a scalpel in her hand, telling me that she would never turn into one of those things. I begged her not to do it but she once again smiled at me and thanked me for everything. Before I could react to stop her, she stabbed herself where her heart was. She grunted in pain but she was tough as nails and she was able to hold her cry of pain back. She gave me one last smile...before falling limp, never to move again._

_I returned from that about three hours ago...it was painful to explain this to everyone else but they all sadly accepted it because there was nothing we could do._

_I already wrote a letter to Jordan and Flora but Freya returned quickly, indicating that Jordan didn't have a reply to send back. I wrote a second letter to them...telling them that they could come see me...but I had to let him know what happened in person; Irina was his friend too._

_This fucking world...was quickly crumbling underneath my feet...and for the first time,_

_I didn't see a light at the end of the tunnel._


	5. The Horrifying Truth

**(A/N): So much content in a single day? Writing highs are pretty wild I'd say. Especially when this story is growing so rapidly. Thank you all for the support and please, let me know! Drop a review or send me a message. You know how much I appreciate contact with my readers!**

**This is gonna be a big one so get ready!**

**School's in!**

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Horrifying Truth**

* * *

**1 Hour Later- The Trading Post**

"Did you get everything done?" asked Flora.  
"Everything on the list and we all decided to get new clothes for everybody, hence the extra giant backpack," said Maria.

Flora smiled at her.

"I'm glad we all got what we needed to do done," said Kyle.  
"Where's my brother?" asked Flora.

As if on cue, Jordan appeared with a man in tow. He was a large man but not excessively so. Jordan didn't have a very amused look on his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked.  
"Long story...let's unload everything at the parking area," he replied.

Judging from the look on the man's face, it definitely wasn't something good.

"You two and Doan go on ahead and get him settled in...he doesn't look very good," said Mabry as he took the bag from me.

I looked at him questioningly but Mabry simply nodded at me, telling me to follow Jordan and the man.

"You're the warmest and kindest amongst all of us...I'm sure you can do a better job of keeping them company than any of us," he said.

I nodded.

"We'll catch up in a little," said Jessica.

I followed Jordan and the man to what seemed to be a bar.

* * *

**Later That Afternoon- The Valany Bar**

"I'm so sorry to hear about that..." I said.

Jordan's eyes were narrowed as he took gulp from the large mug in front of him.

"So you're the one who's been taking care of the siblings?" I asked.  
"Yeah...Jordan and I became friends from about the first month he came here," he said.

I looked at Jordan to see that he had risen to his feet and walked over to the bar. Zack sighed softly.

"I..just don't know what to do now," he said.

I couldn't help but feel sorry for him; he didn't deserve any of what happened to him...and for the girl he really cared about to die like that? That pain must be unimaginable. Soon, the whole group arrived and I waved my hand to them, bringing them over to us. There was another man that I had never seen before with the kids encircling him. He was wearing a lab coat and glasses, indicating that he must've been a doctor or a scientist.

"Who's our new friend?" I asked.  
"Dr. Emile Fadel at your service," he replied with a courteous nod.  
"You're from Aussie?" asked Maria.

He nodded with a smile.

"You look...a bit young to be a doctor," said Jessica.  
"I was a Junior in Medical School so I was pretty close to becoming one...and I have the most medical experience here out of everyone," he explained.

Flora smiled at him as he ruffled her hair.

"Whenever this little gremlin comes here, she comes to me and tries to learn more," he said.  
"He's the one that told me about the honey," said Flora to Frani.

Frani looked at Emile, her face suddenly turning pale.

"How did you find that out?" she asked.  
"Research is a hell of a thing when you don't have access to medical facilities," he said with a smile.

He looked at Zack and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You doing okay mate?" he asked.

Zack slowly nodded.

"So this is Zack?" asked Kyle.

Flora noticed Zack's horribly disheartened expression and immediately embraced him.

"I'm so sorry about Irina..." she whispered.

Zack made no move to return the hug but his face softened and her attempts at cheering him up. Jordan returned with two waitresses in tow. Each of them held up a tray with a drink for everyone. He took a seat.

"We have a lot to discuss," said Zack.

Flora released him and she took her seat beside Jordan.

"That we do," said Jordan.

* * *

**45 Minutes Later**

"So you're sure that this is going to happen?" asked Zack.

I nodded.

"I went ahead and scouted a bit further ahead during that time I wasn't with you," I replied.

He looked absolutely horrified.

"What made you decide to run out that far?" he asked.  
"Gary let me know that he sighted it," I replied.

Zack cursed loudly.

"I don't think that we're in a good position to fend off a horde of that magnitude...not with Irina gone; morale is too damn low," he said.

I closed my eyes and folded my arms.

"How big is the horde?" asked Emile.  
"Enough to overwhelm us if we're not careful...there's also a few Bloaters in tow," I explained.

Emile cursed loudly.

"Can someone tell me what the fuck all these names mean?" cursed Mabry.

Emile nodded.

"Now as I'm sure you've all heard a lot, there are about three known types of Infected, each indicating a different level of infection," said Emile.

He pulled a notebook from his bag and opened it to the first page and pointed at the diagram.

"The most common kind is the Runner...which are the ones that look the most human," he said.

He turned the page and pointed to a diagram of a spore.

"These spores are of the Cordyceps Fungus...this fungus used to be a very good contributor to modern medicine because it held properties that could suppress the human immune system which made organ transplants a lot easier," he explained.

He then sighed.

"But somewhere along Mother Nature's shitty agenda, the fungus mutated drastically...usually, the fungus will spread around by acting parasitic in nature to insects like ants in order to spread itself around," he said.

He then turned the page to a picture of a human being.

"The fungus mutated to the point where it could infect humans as well...I don't know where exactly the mutated strain originated but it started spreading two years ago in September and in a few months, 60% of the population was either dead or infected," he said.

Everyone's faces grew pale but Flora and I had already heard the statistics so it didn't really phase us as much.

"Anyway...the fungus works like this," he continued.

He pointed to the brain.

"Upon being inhaled, the spores immediately spread to the brain where they grow and quickly take away higher brain function...this results in stage 1: The Runner," he said.

He swallowed hard.

"Because of the loss of higher brain function, it results in the host losing their ability to think and hence, their humanity which causes them to be extremely aggressive and because the fungus hasn't grown much, they can still run quite quickly," he continued.  
"Is that the reason why they can still scream as well?" asked Zack.

Emile nodded.

"It takes between 1-2 days for the person to reach stage 1...before then, they're still human," he said.

I looked at Doan's face and I could see that she was affected by Emile's words due to her now pale face. I closed my eyes as he continued.

"You can tell that someone's infected because they exhibit increased aggression and they begin to have poor eyesight...because the fungus attacks the optic nerves first," he said.  
"Is that why their eyes are always bloodshot?" asked Frani.

Emile nodded.

"After Stage 1...assuming the host doesn't die, it will reach Stage 2 anywhere between a week and a year depending on the strength of the host's immune system...which results in what we call Stalkers," he said.

He turned the page to show a much more disfigured version of the previous picture.

"Stalkers are different from Runners in that the fungus has taken over most of the brain, resulting in them having only one eye for seeing and with the brain completely infected, they've lost all aspects of their former selves...practically making them Clickers," he said as he pointed to the diagram next to it.

Vivian too a look at the picture and I saw her nearly gag. Jessica noticed her discomfort and quickly placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her away from it.

"Stalkers are a lot smarter than the usually berserk Runners...they have the instinct to hide from their prey before springing on them...and they know how to play possum," he explained.

Doan's face grew even paler by the moment and Kyle covered his mouth and closed his eyes, as if he were imagining seeing one of them. Flora was largely unphased; we had fought a few of them in the past and we knew how to get past them. Maria's usually joyful face was now replaced with utter disgust and even Mabry, who had remained calm, began to exhibit disgust.

"Then comes stage 3...the Clicker,"

He pointed at the head.

"The fungus at this point has grown completely over the head of the host, resulting in loss of eyesight but this is replaced with extremely acute hearing and the ability to use echolocation to find their prey," he said.  
"Do Stalkers do that as well since they only have one eye?" asked Kyle.  
"Yes...but they don't rely on it as much as Clickers do," said Emile.

He pointed at the head of the Clicker.

"At this point, the fungus has grown so much that it can withstand a few conventional shots from pistols and even arrows so the most recommended way to kill these things is with the use of fire," said Emile.  
"Can't we just like stab the brain with a knife?" asked Frani.  
"Clickers are much stronger than the average man because the fungus grows into the muscles and the proteins augment them," said Emile.

Frani's face again turned pale.

"Because they are completely blind and also because they don't have higher brain function, they aren't very intelligent so you can throw maybe a bottle and they'll chase the sound," said Emile.

I nodded in agreement as I had done a similar act to get past a few Clickers during our journey here.

Emile then took in a large breath as he pointed to Stage 4...the Bloater.

"This stage is relatively rare...and only happens after 4 or more years of infection," said Emile as he pointed a huge, grotesque figure.

Vivian turned away from the book and made her way towards the bathroom. Most of the group were not even remotely pleased with the sight of it.

"These things have the fungus so well grown, it acts as body armor and most conventional weapons don't work on them," he said.

He then pointed to a picture of fire.

"However, fire is an extremely effective way of killing any of them...but for a Bloater, unless you have a source of fire, you need to get the hell out of there," he said.  
"Why? Aren't they blind like Clickers?" asked Mabry.  
"They are...but their echolocation is further than Clickers though it's not as accurate," said Emile.

I swallowed hard.

"They're monstrously strong...if you let one of these things get a hand on you...you're as good as dead," he said.  
"That's not all to them...is there?" asked Doan.

Emile sighed audibly.

"They have spore pods that contain a deadly toxin called Mycotoxin, which is actually secreted by a lot of other types of fungus," he said.  
"So they can throw fucking grenades at people?" asked Jessica.

He nodded.

"They are a flee on sight order...you don't want to stand and fight one of these things without a high powered weapon or access to fire," said Emile.

I let out a sigh as Zack looked up.

"There's a horde of all of those things coming towards here...and don't have the manpower to handle it," he said.  
"Can't everyone just make molotov cocktails and use those?" asked Flora.

Zack shook his head.

"A horde of that size would take a massive amount of alcohol to make enough...and we need it to keep everyone happy," he said.

I nodded in agreement.

"The only realistic way we're going to be able to handle these things is if we strike them before they arrive," I said.

Zack looked at me as if I was insane.

"We'll need to bring out all the trucks...do you know how risky that is if those bandit fucks catch wind of the plan?" he snapped.  
"Do you want this post to get run through by the Infected?" I snapped back.

Zack looked at me, anger clear in his eyes but he knew I was right; he just did not want to ask any of the soldiers to risk themselves for this.

"How long do we have until they get here?" he asked after a brief pause.  
"Two days assuming they don't stop," I replied.  
"How the hell can you tell?" he asked.  
"Because there's a lot of cars on the highway and a lot of bandits between them and us," I replied.

He nodded slowly.

"Then we need help," he said.

We followed him outside to hear him whistle loudly. A hawk soon flew into view and landed on the top of his stall. He then scribbled a message onto a piece of paper before tying to the hawk's leg with some string. He gave the hawk a gentle rub and whispered to it. He then raised his arm and pointed straight to the west as the hawk flew off.

"Who did you write to?" I asked.  
"Andrew Johnson, you remember him right?" he asked.

I nodded.

"He's got a lot of people who would volunteer to help us out," said Zack.

I nodded.

"I wanna help," said Flora.

I looked at her in disbelief but that glint in her eyes...it was inspiring to say the least.

"I wouldn't be able to live with myself if all of my friends got slaughtered and I wasn't here to help," she said.

I looked at everyone else and much to my surprise, a lot of them were inspired by Flora's words.

"If this trading post falls...we're not going to last very long," said Mabry.

He nodded.

"I'm in too," he said.

Jessica stepped forward.

"I'm no good with a gun...but I'll try and help however I can," she said.  
"Even if I'm just bringing ammo to everyone...I'm going to help however I can," said Doan.

The kids nodded in agreement. I looked to Emile.

"I can figure out something for everyone to do to help out," he said with an encouraging nod.

I smiled.

"It's settled then, we'll be back tomorrow so we can help prepare," I said.

I then noticed that Zoey was missing from the group.

"Where did Zoey get off to?" I asked.

* * *

**Meanwhile - The Parking Lot**

"I've managed to find a safe place...for now,"

I pressed the button on the tape recorder before looking down at her notes and pressing it once more.

"I haven't seen any indication of...the **experiments** around this area...maybe the spores really did make it to the intended location,"  
"Excuse me?"

I turned to see a rather beautiful woman, no older than 19 looking at me. She was eyeing my notes.

"Are you into bio-technology?" she asked.  
"Pretty good at it if I do say so myself," I replied with a wink.

She seemed very intrigued.

"I've been doing a lot of research with Dr. Fadel...I mean I have some ideas," she said.  
"Lay em on me," I replied and with a smile.

She seemed to light up greatly at my enthusiasm and she joined me in the truck.

"I saw your group come in earlier...have you been with them long?" she asked.  
"Not really...met them yesterday," I replied.

She looked at me in disbelief.

"The guy with the sword on his back saved me and my friend...and he let us stay with them," I explained.  
"Where?" she asked.  
"A compound about 3 hours away from here," I replied.

She looked down at the ground.

"Why do you ask?" I inquired.  
"I've been wanting to leave this place...I'm not liking the man to woman ratio," she replied.  
"Feel like you're swimming in an ocean full of dicks?" I asked.

She nodded and laughed softly.

"I mean...if you can help out I don't see why they wouldn't let you in," I said.

She seemed to think about my words for a few moments.

"These notes look like you're trying to research a cure," she said.

I sighed softly.

"I haven't been able to figure this out...it's a far cry from feasible but I think there really is a way to cure, if not grant immunity to the spores," I said.

She nodded.

"I'll be your research assistant," she said.

I smiled at her.

"Then I don't see why they won't let you aboard!" I said with a smile.

She picked up one of the papers from my book and began to read it.

"I'm Zoey, what's your name?" I asked.  
"Lily Nguyen," she replied.

* * *

**45 Minutes Later**

"Zoey! We were looking everywhere for you!" said Vivian.

She scratched the back of her head.

"I sort of forgot where we were supposed to meet up and I ended up coming back to the trucks to see everything packed in," she explained.

She then looked to her notes that were spread out in the passenger seat.

"I started reading and I fell asleep so I must've lost track of time!" she said laughing nervously.  
"At least you didn't run outside or something stupid," said Mabry bluntly.

She rolled her eyes at his stab at her ego.

"We need to get back home and get everything ready because we're coming back here tomorrow," said Jordan.  
"What's going on?" she asked.

He began to fill her in on everything that happened throughout the day and she raised a hand to her mouth.

"A horde that big is coming towards here?!" she said in disbelief.

Kyle nodded.

"This post is vital for the survival of many others out there so I'll be damned if I let it fall without lifting a finger," said Kyle.

Zoey nodded.

"If we're all going, there's no reason why I wouldn't too!" she said with a determined look on her face.

A shuffle inside of the truck alerted the group as Lily climbed out of it.

"Who's your friend?" asked Jessica.  
"Oh! She's been helping me review my research, her name is Lily," said Zoey.

Lily nervously waved at everyone before turning to Zoey. Zoey simply nodded as she turned to face Jordan.

"I want to help Zoey with her research...she told me that she's staying with you all and I wanted to know if you had room for another person in your group," she said.

Jordan put a hand to his chin; it was certainly a lot to account for. They were running out of spaces in the sleeping area back at the compound and another mouth to feed meant that they needed to work a little harder to get everything together. On the other hand, another brilliant mind definitely would help out. If she was studying bio-technology, she would certainly be an asset to Zoey in addition to Emile. He smiled at her.

"I don't see why not," he said.

Lily seemed to light up at his approval and looked at the rest of the group only to see no objections.

"It's kind of nice having so many girls around," said Flora.

Kyle shook his head as he turned to Jordan.

"Well, we're gonna have to fit tight on the trucks considering how much load we're taking back," he said.  
"Then get in the driver seat," said Jordan.

Flora smiled as she jumped in Jordan's lap after he took a seat.

"Hurry up...Flora's not the lightest person to hold," he said.

Flora flicked him in the forehead.

"You're not getting any tea tonight," she said sticking her tongue out.


	6. Emotions Running High

**(A/N): Holy crap. Almost 14,000 words in a single day? Let's see if we can break that record! Thanks to all my friends for the support on this series. I'll do my best to not let you all down and I do hope that everything's coming together now if you were a little confused before. LET'S GO!  
**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Emotions Running High**

* * *

**The Following Night- The Valany**

"Everything set?"

I turned and nodded.

"We've done just about everything we can," I replied.  
"That's good...but I need to ask you something,"

He took a seat and looked around for any unwanted attention.

"Earlier...you said that Bloaters appear after a few years...we've barely been in this thing for 3 years...what's the deal with that?" he asked.

I swallowed hard.

"That estimate was based on the growth behavior of the fungus that I studied...but the fact that there are Bloaters around already means that there's some kind of mutation," I said.

I removed my book from my bag and showed it to him.

"I got this picture of a Bloater when I was looking for river samples...and based on what I was studying, that fungus strain progresses 4 times as quickly as the current one we're aware of because if my math is correct, Bloaters shouldn't be appearing until at least 5 years with the normal strain..." I explained.

Zack's hand went to his chin.

"So you think we're dealing with a mutated strain of this already mutant fungus?" he asked.  
"If I could get a sample from any of the infected...I could probably run some tests and compare it to the average sample I got from Andrew a few weeks ago," I explained.  
"How fast is it?" he asked.  
"Based on my calculations, this strain progresses as normal until Stage 3...then it just rapidly speeds up because I kept a tab on a Clicker," I said.

I showed him a photo of a female specimen.

"I managed to tag her with a tracking dart that Andrew sent for us and I kept tabs on her whereabouts, sending scouts to check on her," I said.

I swallowed hard.

"She wasn't in stage three for more than about 2 months before she became a Bloater," I said.

Zack cursed loudly.

"So you mean we could have an army of Bloaters on our hands if we let things go the way they are?" he asked.  
"...Theoretically yes," I replied.

Zack nodded.

"We'll do our best to get a sample then so we can figure this out," he said.  
"Zack," I said.

He turned back to look at me.

"If this strain is mutated...then we need to be even **more** careful...we don't know what other effects it has," I said.

He nodded.

"I'll let everyone know," he said.

* * *

**The Solitude Hotel- Jordan And Flora's Room**

"Jordan?"

I turned back to see Zoey peeping into the room.

"Can I come in?" she asked.  
"Sure," I replied.

She closed the door behind her and took a seat on the bed.

"Something on your mind?" I asked.  
"It's about tomorrow...I'm extremely conflicted about something," she said.

I raised an eyebrow as she removed a book from her jacket.

"I was doing some reading on the area based on the map that Zack gave me to examine and I was hoping for your input," she said.

I nodded as I took a look.

"If we meet the horde over here, there's a gas station over there that should be abandoned...if we can get some of the fuel tanks over to the road, we can probably take out the whole horde in one go if we play our cards right," said Zoey.

My eyes widened.

"The biggest issue with this plan is that we'll have to go on foot once we reach the blockade over here...and it's also bandit territory," I said.

She sighed loudly.

"I know the risks but hear me out..." she said.

She pointed at the highway between the gas station and the post which wasn't very far of a distance.

"I think we need to take the risk because there's no telling how many spores could be released from those bodies if they ended up nearer to the post and these things can travel for miles on a good gust of wind," she said.

I nodded slowly, understanding that the further we could fight them, the safer it was for us in the long run.

"We have ample masks right?" I asked.

She nodded.

"A lot more came in today so we have more than enough for everyone going on the strike," she said.

I nodded.

"Let Zack know how you feel; he'll love the idea if it involves less people being in danger," I said.

She smiled at me and gave me a hug.

"Thanks for the confidence!" she said with a smile.

Before I could retort, she quickly left the room. I shrugged as I lay back down, letting sleep take hold.

* * *

**Jessica, Doan And Frani's Room**

"Everything set?" asked Jessica.  
"As much as can be," replied Doan.

I looked down at the backpack I had just finished filling up. Jessica put a hand on my shoulder.

"No matter what happens, stay close to us...alright?" she asked.

I nodded.

"Did you check on everyone else?" I asked.  
"Kyle is already sleeping because he did a lot of heavy lifting," said Doan  
"Lily and Zoey were discussing some science stuff that I couldn't understand with Emile last time I checked," said Jessica.

I lowered my head.

"I wish Maria was with us...she's good at keeping spirits high," I said.  
"Yeah but we can't leave the compound completely undefended so someone had to stay back," said Jessica.

I nodded.

"She'll be fine, Jordan and Mabry set a lot of traps so if something goes down, she'll be aware of it," said Doan.  
"That and Mabry is with her and he's a pretty good shot with that rifle of his said Jessica.

I sighed softly.

"This infection thing...it's _really_ scary," I murmured.

Doan had somehow moved from one side of the room and gave me a warm hug.

"We'll get through it together," she said with a smile.

I was thankful that she was with us; she was really good at making others feel better and that smile of hers just had the power to lift even the lowest of spirits. I hugged her back, very thankful that she was thoughtful enough to have made the effort.

"Where's Jordan and Flora?" asked Jessica.  
"Flora is with Emile because she's helping him to make molotovs," said Doan.  
"She's gonna be a really smart woman when she grows up," said Jessica with a smile.

My thoughts then drifted to Jordan.

"I know Jordan was pretty affected after Emile told us about the infection...it must be rough," I said.  
"He had to kill his own mother...and he looks like he's fine," said Jessica.

Doan shook her head.

"He'd rather suffer and not tell anyone,"

I looked to the door only to see Flora with a sad look on his face. When the hell she got there and opened the door without being heard puzzled me greatly.

"There's only so much I can do for him...he keeps blaming himself for all the things that happened on the way to the compound...and he also blames himself for mom getting infected," she said.

Jessica looked down at the ground.

"He works really hard for all of us...and I'm still amazed he was able to take care of himself and you all by himself," she said.  
"I wanted to help him but he always hunted on his own...his uncle used to take him on hunting trips when he lived in Florida for a while," said Flora.  
"He's from Jamaica isn't he?" I asked.  
"He moved when he was 8 years old and I was born that year after his dad divorced our mom," she explained.  
"So he helped raise you?" asked Doan.

She shook her head.

"I met him when I was 4 years old because he ended up moving in with mom and I because he didn't want to live with his dad anymore," she said.  
"And you two were inseparable?" I asked.

She nodded.

"He's not just my half brother...he's my best friend and there's nothing I wouldn't do for him," she said.

Her eyes showed signs of tearing up but she smiled.

"He's haunted by nightmares and he usually goes to sleep alone because he wakes up in the middle of the night from those dreams...so he'd rather be alone that disrupt everyone," she said.

I nodded; that must've been why he tried to sleep on the roof the first night we arrived at the compound.

"Have you talked to him about it?" asked Jessica.  
"There's nothing more I can do...I let him know that none of it was his fault and that he didn't make a mistake in raising me...but he feels so **guilty** about it all," she said.

Jessica rose to her feet.

"I'm going to talk to him," she said.

Flora shook her head.

"If I can't get through to him...no one can," she said.

For some reason, Doan stood up and walked towards the door.

"Leave it to me," she said.

Before anyone could retort, she already left the room.

* * *

**15 Minutes Later- Jordan And Flora's Room**

"Jordan?"

I knocked gently on the door only for it to creak open. Much to my surprise, he was asleep. The lights were off and the only thing illuminating the room was the full moon shining in through the glass door to the balcony. I looked at his expression only to see that it was..._pained_. His breathing grew erratic and his hands squeezed fistfuls of the sheets.

He must've been reliving those memories in his dreams.

**~ o ~**

_I ran as fast as I could towards cover as gunfire rained down from the trio of bandits behind me. I bounded over fallen trees and managed to get a good grip on one of them and quickly threw myself up into it. I glanced around frantically looking for somewhere I could hide and found refuge in a particularly large cluster of leaves. I hid myself in the leaves, being as careful as I could not to rustle them. I looked below to see that the bandits had lost sight of me but much to my horror, the distinctive croaks of Clickers drew near. I looked down as one of the bandits screamed in terror at the sight of a small horde of Clickers, no doubt drawn there by the gunfire._

_"Forget that fucker! We gotta get outta here!" shouted one of the men._

_I closed my eyes, knowing full well what I had to do in order to escape. I reached into my pack and pulled out an empty soda bottle, the same one I drank about an hour before when I took a break from hunting to have a snack. I looked down before tossing the bottle into the midst of the bandits, driving the Clickers to them. With loud screeches and croaks, a group of no less than 8 Clickers swarmed the men. One of them succeeded in killing two of them with his shotgun but before he could reload the two shells, one of them had closed the distance and grabbed him. I heard the horrifying screams as the Clicker tore into his neck with its jaws. The other two bandits tried their best to escape only for one of them to fall over a log and drop his gun, causing a stray shot to fire. The unoccupied Clickers sprinted towards the location and found the downed victim before tearing into him as well. I waited for the Clickers to follow the last man away as I looked down to see the two that were ripping the two dead men apart._

_I waited for my moment and threw a brick to distract the one furthest from me and much to my relief, it followed the sound of the brick. I leaped from the branch and landed on the back of the Clicker still eating before I immediately grabbed it by the neck and violently snapped its neck. I felt that my leg had given out and I slumped over to the trunk, realizing that I had dislocated it but my fear was so great that I didn't feel the pain of it until after. I cursed under my breath and looked towards the sky, realizing that sundown was coming. If I didn't get a move on, there's no way I was going to make it back to the compound. I looked around carefully for the other Clicker and once I was sure it wasn't around, I removed the combat knife in my bag and put a large wad of cloth in my mouth as I looked to my leg._

_"This...is gonna hurt...**a lot**,"_

_Sinking my teeth into the cloth, I violently jerked my leg, making an audible snap. The cloth did an excellent job of muffling my scream and prevented my teeth from impaling my tongue. I tried to move my leg a little and once I was sure I could walk somewhat well, I rose to my feet. I removed the cloth from my mouth and picked up my machete before raising the mask to my nose. Much to my horror however...I turned to see a Clicker, standing still and twitching. I froze instantly as I grasped the machete. If I made a move right now, no matter how quiet it was, the Clicker would be able to tell I was there and one wrong move would be my end. I took a deep breath as I stepped on a twig. The Clicker screamed loudly and charged towards me. I rolled out of the way before swinging the machete, connecting with its leg. I then pulled it free before landing a vicious chop to the head, silencing it nearly instantly. I quickly kicked the body free of the blade as I heard more croaks coming towards me. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me as the sun continued to set..._

**~ o ~**

I did my best to awaken him from the dream and it took a few shakes to get him to stir. Much to my shock, he grabbed me and shoved me to the bed before raising a fist.

"Stop! It's me!" I exclaimed.

He opened his eyes, sweat running down his forehead as he realized that he had pinned me down. He took a brief moment to realize that it was me before he released me and turned away.

"I'm...sorry..." he said.

His tone was barely held together and I know that deep down, he was in a tremendous amount of pain and the fact that he nearly punched me couldn't have helped him in the least. He rose from the bed as he opened the door to the balcony and stepped outside. I followed him and sat on the wall beside him.

"...I didn't hurt you did I?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"You came to your senses," I said softly.

He looked towards the ground floor and let out a heavy breath.

"You've been having problems sleeping?" I asked.

He didn't reply to me.

"Do you think that we can take down that horde?" he asked.

I paused for a brief moment and smiled.

"If we work together, I think we can win," I said.

He looked at me but unlike every other stare he gave me, this one held..._sincerity_? He stared at me like that for about two seconds before he turned to face me.

"How you remain so positive...I'll never understand," he said.

Looking at him now, I had no idea how I wasn't able to tell he was in severe discomfort. His eyes were red from lack of sleep and bags were beginning to form underneath, his posture made him appear weakened and his tone continued to sound as if it were faltering.

"What was your dream about?" I asked.

He moved back inside and sat down and much to my surprise, he beckoned me to sit. As I did, he began to tell me everything.

* * *

**Meanwhile- The Tactics Center**

"So this is gonna be our plan?" said Zack.

Zoey nodded.

"What she says makes sense because the spores can spread up to about ten miles. The highway is an hour and a half from the post...so if we get to the gas station, there will be a 16 mile radius for the spores to spread assuming we don't burn the bodies," said Emile.  
"We'll carry the extra fuel to burn the bodies," said Zack.

Emile nodded.

"I'll make arrangements for it...but we're going to be pretty low on fuel for a while so we have to ration accordingly," said Emile.

Zack nodded.

"Andrew," he said.

A man wearing a Kevlar vest and cargo pants approached.

"You and Gary need to take point on this because you're the best shots we have," he said.

Andrew nodded.

"I'll take the squad ahead and we'll set up shop," he said.  
"Head out bright and early then," said Zack.

Andrew again nodded as he left the room. Zack then turned to Zoey.

"Good plan you came up with hot stuff," he said with a playful wink.

Zoey for some reason, felt herself blush at his compliment.

"You look like a G.I Jane but you definitely got a good head on your shoulders," he said.

He turned to Emile.

"We better get some rest," said Emile with a yawn.

The two men left the room as Zoey looked down at the ground, clenching her fists.

_"I hope I can help right the wrongs I committed...I would never be able to forgive myself if something happened to these people..."_

* * *

**Later That Night- Jordan And Flora's Room**

I walked inside and much to my surprise, Jordan was fast asleep. What surprised me even more was that Doan was allowing him to use her lap as a pillow and she was also asleep against the wall. I felt my heart grow warm; he was finally opening up to others. I snickered softly; I knew full well that the only person he would open up to would be her. I mean...he didn't do it with me and I'm his **sister**.

He slowly stirred from his sleep and opened his eyes to see me staring at them.

"Smooth move Cassanova," I teased.

I could've sworn I saw a blush on his face as he sat up.

"What happened?" I asked.  
"She came in...and I nearly took out three of her teeth because of my nightmare," he said.

I looked at him in disbelief but he didn't move his gaze from her.

"She didn't have to come in here and listen to me...she didn't have to be the one to listen to all these things...but she chose to," he said.

I saw him smile but unlike the rest of them, this was a heartfelt one.

"She's a very caring person...and that's something I respect greatly in any individual," he said.  
"Is this just respect?" I asked.

He looked at me and was silent for a few moments before he closed his eyes.

"I know what you're getting at...and you know what risks there are with that," he said.  
"But-"  
"No buts Flora; having that is dangerous and you know how it is," he said almost sternly.

I sighed deeply; he was letting the circumstances cloud his judgement and even his own feelings.

"Still...I've never known this level of kindness from anyone ever since this plague destroyed our world," he said.

I knew he was excluding me because I was his sister but I had to agree with him on that; most of the people we met up until we reached the compound were bandits. We got very lucky when we ran into a settlement and they allowed us to stay the night and eat with them but apart from that, we didn't have a real bond with someone else until we met Zack and Emile. Zack and Jordan almost instantly became friends. Maybe it was because they were both from Jamaica or maybe it was because they're both very kind people. Whatever the reason, Zack did a lot for us and he's like a second brother to me. Then there was Emile...

Emile took care of Jordan when he dislocated his leg and cut his arm from a hunting accident. They almost instantly became friends as well and I grew closer to him because of his passion for medicine. He never graduated from university but he knew more than enough to qualify to take care of people now and he was really good at it. People from all over the state traveled here just to get some alone time with him and that just showed how his reputation grew. He came from Australia to visit a few friends but the outbreak forced him to go on the run. He met Zack who was one of the original founders of this trading post and from there, they became friends and partners. Both these men were important to me and also to most of the survivors out there right now.

Much to my surprise, he lifted Doan into his arms, astonishingly not waking her up.

"I'm going to take her to her room," he said.

I nodded as he left but if he saw the shit-eating grin I had on my face when he left, he'd probably ignore me for a few days to avoid the teasing I'd give him.

* * *

**Lily's Room**

The notes Zoey had on these things were absolutely fascinating. She got a lot of information from Emile and she was already condensing it into her own research. Wherever she came from must've been the first initial place the outbreak began because some of these details were things that you could only gather from examining a specimen for an extended period of time.

Behavioral patterns, levels of aggression, most effective ways to disable, all of these notes were actually better than Emile's in some ways. She soon came into the room.

"I can't find my damn room...do you mind if I sleep here?" she asked.

I smiled and nodded.

"Hopefully I'll run into Kyle in the morning so I can grab all my gear," she said.  
"You should really try to remember more things," I said with a soft laugh.

Zoey childishly stuck her tongue out at me.

"So you been through it all?" she asked.  
"A great deal of it...I've never seen notes so detailed," I mused.

Zoey smiled as she shut the book.

"Sleep now; we can pick this up after we smoke that horde tomorrow," she said with a confident smile.

I nodded in agreement as I doused the lights. A brief pause followed until I turned back to Zoey.

"Do you think we can hold out where your group is at?" I asked.

Zoey smiled and nodded.

"If we do our part and protect this post, I think we have the closest thing to civilization right here," she replied.

With those encouraging words, I felt myself drift off to sleep.

**~ o ~**

_"Emile was able to tell how well the fungus would grow in a normal strain...he hid it from everyone else but Zack and me and that was good of him...but if that's the strain that...that I had a hand in creating...I don't know if we'll be able to stop them..."_

I looked back to see Lily fast asleep.

_"It was good of him to lie and make it sound like the Bloaters in the horde were just some random freaks of nature...but he knows that there's a mutated strain out there...I need to get it together and figure out how to deal with it because if we don't...we're all in some serious trouble."  
_


	7. Journal Entries: Zoey Lee

**(A/N): Let's get some backstory filled in shall we?  
**

**Slowing down a little to get some feels going and well, this is long overdue.**

**Let's get to it!**

* * *

**Journal Entries #1, #2, #3 &amp; #4: Zoey Lee**

* * *

_**Date: January 2nd 2014**_

_Everything's going as I expected. The Cordyceps fungus is progressively weakening in it's link to the hosts it infects to the point that ants take almost twice as long to die from exposure than before._

_Compound X-276 has been the closest thing to a vaccination that we have created so far and I am glad to be a part of this. Things really got out of hand during the initial outbreak...which to this day none of us have pinned down. The first step we have to take in order to rebuild is to guarantee the safety of the current generation before moving onto the future. This vaccination could change the world..._

_I don't care how much sleep I have to miss out on in order to get this done...after I watched my hometown become overrun with those things...there's no way I can stand by and let this continue._

_Will write more as things continue to develop. Hopefully, human trials will be as successful as these._

* * *

**_Date: January 12th 2015_**

_To say that I'm happy right now would be the biggest understatement ever!_

_Compound X-276 had some modifications done to it in order to allow it to isolate the fungus's ability to produce spores and much to the whole team's relief, it has completely removed its ability to produce spores. In fact, we introduced a specimen with the compound applied and it actually ended up spreading the compound through the roots, resulting in the specimens in a short space around it to stop producing them as well!_

_We also went through with human trials and the subject has been doing well. We managed to find someone who was just recently infected and not only have they stopped being aggressive, they were capable of speaking and reacting to stimuli as a normal human! I think we have finally done it...after a year of extensive testing and trials, we had finally done it. The subject did not deteriorate in the space of 7 days which is 3 times longer than how long Stage 1 would take ordinarily and shows absolutely no signs of deterioration._

_Today marks a huge day in history...now maybe human kind has a chance at survival._

_We're gonna celebrate the breakthrough right now with some drinks._

_Will write again if anything else develops._

* * *

**_Date: February 1st 2015_**

_This...this was unimaginable. Everything that could've possibly went wrong...did and then some._

_I...I can't believe that...that this all happened._

_The compound is successful at suppressing the fungal infection...but after a set amount of time...the fungus accelerates in growth. The subject that we tested on January 10th was fine until the 29th...then everything changed._

_We had brought in more specimens to test the compound on but all of them...every single one of them mutated so heavily that they skipped Stage 1 altogether...Subject Zero progressed to Stage 3 and did an uncharacteristic explosion, spreading spores throughout the holding area and infected the other specimens. The compound seems to have mutated the fungus even more...and what we thought was a cure and vaccination has now become...an accelerator._

_The lab was overrun quickly as many of my friends and colleagues were infected with the enhanced spores...and they slaughtered everyone..._

_I only managed to escape...because Gina sacrificed herself to save me._

_I was cornered by a Clicker...but Gina managed to stab it in the brain with a scalpel. In the process, the Clicker's head popped and spread more spores...which Gina accidentally inhaled. She quickly took me to the exit of the lab and told me to run..._

_The fungus had mutated so heavily that she was exhibiting heightened aggression mere minutes after inhaling the spores...and by the time I reached the exit...she reached Stage 1. I had no choice but to lock myself out of the lab...and flee for my life. The only reason I wasn't infected myself was because I hadn't taken off my gas mask from testing an outdoor sample from the plants before shit hit the fan. My best friend...since I was 16 years old...was now infected because of me..._

_I...have no idea what I'm going to do now..._

_The hope that was there...is now just gone..._

* * *

**_Date: February 17th 2015_**

_I managed to reenter the lab 3 days ago and recovered most of my notes. I was thankful that I was trained how to use a gun all those years ago...thanks Dad._

_The fungus that came from the lab was isolated from everything else and because of the decontamination chamber present on the top floor, I thankfully didn't have to worry about it spreading outside. Some specimens managed to escape but they likely were not the same spores as Subject Zero who at that point, had reached Stage 4. A Bloater was produced...in 16 days..._

_What the fuck have we done..._

_There's nothing else I can do but use my notes and hope that I can find the answer...but without the lab to test my findings...the hope we had before was as good as gone._

_No. Can't have an attitude like that. If we don't find a cure, humanity will become extinct. 70% of the world's population has already been destroyed and I'd be damned to see anyone else die like this._

_I hope I can find a place to settle down and continue my research. My new traveling companion certainly takes a lot of the strain from my mind._

_I had found her wandering the woods and I knew I couldn't just leave her there so from there, I met Vivian. A 14 year old girl like her shouldn't be out here..._

_I need to find us a safe place...or things won't be looking very good for the both of us._

_Will write again when I have time...right now, the road calls._


	8. Encounter

**(A/N): Another chapter rolling out. Time for shit to really hit the fan.**

**I apologize for any horrific images that may haunt your dreams as a result of reading this chapter.**

**And with that, let's do this!**

* * *

**Chapter 5: Encounter**

* * *

**The Following Morning- The Gas Station**

"Is everything all set up?"  
"Exactly as instructed,"

Zack nodded.

"Good job Gary...couldn't do this without you," he said.

The soldier nodded and shook Zack's hand before leaving to take his position.

"So what's the plan?" asked Kyle.

Zack pointed to the map.

"According to the scouts, the horde will be here within the hour," said Emile.

He pointed towards the line of cars that was further down the road they arrived at the station with.

"We need to keep them from passing that line of vehicles because then they're dangerously close to spore range," he said.  
"That's where all the molotovs come in I take it?" asked Jessica.

He nodded.

"Fire is the most effective way to kill them...we don't exactly have flamethrowers on hand so we have to make do with these," he said.

He then pointed to the fuel tanks.

"It's not realistic to expect that we can keep them nowhere near the cars so we set up a few fuel tanks along the road...this is our last chance to keep them back," he said.

Much to everyone's surprise, he handed a pack of matches to Flora.

"I'm going to leave it to you to light the long trail of fuel that I lined towards the final blockade...if the infected get past the fuel tanks, we're in serious trouble," said Emile.

Flora nodded.

"You can count on me," she said.

Emile then turned to the rest of the group.

"Doan, Jessica and Vivian, I need you to supply the soldiers with ammo when they need it," he said.

The trio nodded almost in unison. He then turned to Jordan.

"Since you're the fastest of all your group, you're the one who's going to lead the strike team as the first initial attack," he said.  
"I thought that was Andy's job?" he asked.

Emile shook his head.

"Andy's far too valuable of a long ranged shot to risk him that far up so you're the one leading it," he said.

Flora looked at Emile as if he were insane.

"You're putting such a risky job on my brother?! Are you fucking crazy?!" she snapped.

Emile shook his head.

"He's well received by most of the runners...so they'll listen to him," he explained.

Flora looked at Jordan with tears quickly forming in her eyes. He smiled at her and crouched down to her level.

"I'll be careful...I'm not alone after all," he said.

Flora immediate grabbed her brother in an embrace.

"I'll be fine Flora...don't worry," he said.  
"If things get hairy, you better run the fuck back here," said Kyle.

He turned to Kyle and much to his surprise, the whole group stepped forward.

"You're the one who saved all of us by letting us stay in your home...you didn't have to let us stay but you did out of the goodness of your heart...if we lost you, I have no idea how we'd be able to hold it together," said Mabry.

Flora released her brother as he turned to Mabry and shook his hand firmly.

"I'll have you covering me so I'm not very worried," he said.

Mabry nodded as did Kyle.

"I'm going to be with you up there so I'll watch your back," said Kyle.

The two men shook hands firmly as well as he turned to the girls.

"You're not exactly the definition of a leader because you're too damn quiet to be...but I don't want to lose you," said Lily.

Jordan nodded as he held out a hand for Lily to shake. Much to his astonishment however, Lily hugged him.

"Come back safely," she said.

Before he could even turn to the next person, Frani ran forward and hugged him tightly.

"You took good care of me and you took Jessica and Kyle in...if you don't come back, there's no way it would be the same...especially for Flora," she said.

He smiled and placed a single hand on her head. He turned to Jessica only for her to smile at him.

"You've proven yourself more than capable of taking care of yourself so I'm not worried at all for you," she said with a smile.

She gestured for a high five and he happily returned it. He then turned to Doan, who was still silent since they reached the station. He looked into her eyes for a few moments and let out a breath.

_"I can't distract myself with these feelings...I have to focus,"_

He couldn't come up with any words to say as he turned to leave. Much to his surprise however, Doan grabbed his left hand, preventing him from moving. He turned back to face her only to see that she too was deep in conflict.

* * *

**_The Previous Night- Jordan And Flora's Room_**

_"I...had no idea you went through so much," I said._

_Jordan closed his eyes and turned away._

_"If I had just told my mother to stay inside and if I went to get the mail instead...she'd still be here," he murmured.  
"You can't blame yourself for what ifs...it's not your fault," I replied._

_He shook his head._

_"I had to take care of Flora for a year on the road...there were so many nights when we went to sleep and we had no clue if we would wake up the following day...it was horrifying," he said._

_I placed a hand on his and rubbed it gently._

_"You're not alone anymore...you have all of us and if nothing else...you can come to me," I said._

_No one should have to suffer like that mentally; he was too kind of a person to be punishing himself for things that he had no control over._

_"I'm sorry about your friend...it must have been tough to leave him behind," he said._

_I nodded; before I met Mabry and Maria, I was traveling with my friend James...until we were cornered by Clickers. James had already gotten bitten by the time I returned from the river with fresh water so no matter what...he knew he was doomed. He forced me to leave him, telling me that he would not live to become one of them and if there was a chance that I could survive, I should take it. It was the hardest thing I had to do...and I lost my only remaining friend to this god forsaken plague..._

_"I try not to think about it," I said._

_I didn't notice that he had shifted his gaze from the ground to me. His eyes were still red from his inability to sleep soundly and I knew that if he didn't get some, there's no way he would be in any condition to help with the strike tomorrow._

_"You need to get some sleep," I said._

_He let out a sigh._

_"I haven't had a single night of restful sleep since the start of this shit..." he murmured._

_I pulled my legs up on the bed and crossed them and put a pillow in my lap before patting it twice. He looked at me in disbelief._

_"I'm serious," I said sternly._

_My tone seemed to have removed the iciness and he slowly but surely obeyed me, placing his head on the pillow. A few minutes passed before I took a breath, remembering what Flora told me before about his sleeping habits. I cleared my throat quietly and took a breath, ignoring my rapidly beating heart and my nervous mind. What I was about to do was probably one of the most embarrassing things I would ever do._

_"You're giving me...too many things...lately," I sang._

_I noticed his eyes widen but I closed mine to prevent myself from stopping out of embarrassment._

_"You're all I need...you smiled at me and said,"_

_His face softened and he shut his eyes, evidently listening deeply to my attempt at singing._

_"Don't get me wrong I love you...but does that mean I have to meet your father?"  
"When we are older you will understand...what I meant when I said no, I don't think life is quite that simple,"_

_I took an extra deep breath._

_"When you walk away, you don't hear me say...please oh baby, don't go,"  
"Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight..it's hard to let it go,"_

_I kept singing the song as accurately as I could and by the time I finished it, he had already fallen asleep._

**_"You weren't kidding...he does love that song...thanks Flora,"_**

* * *

**Present Time- The Gas Station**

Much to her surprise, he pulled her into an embrace.

"I'm coming back...count on it," he said confidently.

Little did the two of them know that everyone in the room was smiling silently at them, especially Flora.

_"He finally stopped being a hardass...now hopefully the rest of that frozen heart of his will thaw,"_

He released Doan before quickly running outside. Emile then turned to everyone.

"Mabry, you need to cover the runners as best you can because you're probably among the best shots we have," he said.  
"Thanks for having some of your guys watch the compound for us...we really wanted to help," said Mabry to Zack.

Zack nodded. Mabry picked up his rifle and left the room.

"Everyone else, do as people request," said Emile.  
"Yes sir!" said everyone in unison.

Emile smiled.

"Let's make this happen people!" said Zack.

* * *

**One Hour Later**

"FIRST OF THE HORDE SIGHTED SIR!" shouted one of the scouts.

Andrew nodded as he turned to the team of runners.

"Get into position," he ordered.

Jordan, Kyle and seven other men moved onto the grass on the side of the road and moved up. Zack stepped forward.

"Molotov team! Take positions!" he shouted.

Twelve individuals took their places with Jessica and Maria amongst them.

"Volley team ready?" shouted Gary.

A collective "yes sir" indicated just that as several guns cocked.

Zack used his binoculars but much to his horror...the horde only grew larger and larger.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me..." he said.

Emile looked through his binoculars and cursed loudly.

"That wasn't how large the horde was when it was on it's way here...more must've joined them," gasped Emile.

Zack cursed loudly as he picked up his radio.

"Jordan do you copy?" he said.  
_"Loud and clear,"_ he replied.  
"The horde is much larger than we initially thought, be **_very_**careful with your team,"  
_"Understood,"_ he replied.

He turned to Emile.

"Do they have enough molotovs?" he asked.  
"We can only hope so..." replied Emile.

Zack cursed loudly as he looked to Flora.

"Ready for this?" he asked.

Flora nodded as she took out a pistol and made her way roughly half way down the road between the blockade and the volley team's wall. She raised the gun and waited for Clickers to get into range. Several heart stopping minutes passed until she finally pulled the trigger...

The battle had begun.

"WEAPONS FREE!" shouted Zack.

An ear shattering volley of gunfire followed with many of the shots connecting with the Runners in front of the horde. Several of them dropped to the floor, twitching violently as the bullets severed the connection between the fungus and the body. The volley attracted the attention of the horde and triggered the Runners to start their crazed sprint towards the wall.

"MOLOTOV TEAM GET READY!" shouted Emile into the radio.

The entire team set their clothes ablaze and prepared to launch them towards the onslaught of infected.

"RUNNER TEAM! ENGAGE!" shouted Zack into the radio.  
"MASKS ON!" shouted Jordan.

The group of twelve men immediately fastened their gas masks to their faces and ran from the grass and began to pick off stragglers that were apart from the pack. The plan seemed to be working well as the initial wave of Runners went down with ease between the volley shots and the machete wielding men finishing off the strays...until the Clickers started coming.

"CLICKERS!" shouted Kyle.

Jordan turned to him and nodded.

"On me! Everyone else fall back!" shouted Kyle.

Seven of the men drew back as the other five drew pistols from their vests, each with a homemade suppressor attached to the nozzle. Each of them efficiently fired shots and silenced the Clickers that got too close and with the suppressors, the Clickers completely confused as to which direction to go, rendering their echolocation almost useless. The Clickers fell quickly until...everyone had to reload.

"Back off and reload!" shouted Kyle.

The five men did just that, backpedaling as they frantically tried to reload their weapons. The Clickers soon appeared to have suffered no losses as the horde quickly refilled their numbers, the horrifying croaking filling the air and their screeches echoing as they tried to locate their prey.

"VOLLEY TEAM COVER THEM!" shouted Zack.

More gunfire followed through, pelting the Clickers with unforgiving red hot metal and dropping a great many of them but it seemed no matter how many fell, more poured in.

"How many of these fuckers are there?" cursed Mabry.  
"No time to wonder, keep firing!" snapped Gary.

He turned back to gesture a small band of men to move forward, each carrying several grenades.

"Get those up to the runner team now!" he ordered.

They nodded in unison as they approached the six men that backed up further.

"JORDAN!" shouted Andrew.

He turned back to see that Andrew had tossed a grenade through the air. He removed his attention from the oncoming Clickers and sprinted towards the flying object before just barely catching it.

"EVERYONE BACK!" he shouted.

Jordan threw the grenade to Kyle as he and the other three men fell back, allowing Kyle to pull the in and throw the explosive without the worry for safety. A deafening explosion followed, sending a tremendous number of bodies flying through the air and enveloping the horde in smoke. Kyle took the chance to reload his pistol as he eyed the smoke. He cursed loudly as more infected poured from the smoke and not one, but two Bloaters appeared.

"BLOATERS!" shouted Kyle.  
"MOLOTOV TEAM! LIGHT EM UP!" shouted Gary.

Six bottle flew through the air with two bottles successfully hitting one of the Bloaters, setting it ablaze along with a great number of infected that surrounded it.

"SNIPER TEAM! OPEN FIRE ON THE BURNING ONE!" shouted Zack.

Deafening gunshots followed his order as the Bloater's head exploded into yellow gore, dropping the body like a sack of potatoes and crushing smaller infected unfortunate enough to be in front of it. Within this time however, the second Bloater had already found it's target and pulled a large pod from it's stomach. It launched the pod towards the runners.

"FALL BACK! INCOMING PODS!" shouted Kyle.

The men turned to retreat but amidst the chaos, one of them tripped and fell over one of the infected bodies, shattering his mask in the process.

"NO! TREVOR!" shouted Jordan.

Trevor's face didn't change and exhibited no fear. He instead smiled as the toxin filled the air.

"GIVE ME A GRENADE!" he shouted.

Kyle threw one to him as he rose to his feet.

"YOU MOTHERFUCKERS AREN'T GETTING NEAR MY FRIENDS!" he screamed.

He threw the mask aside and pulled the pin before taking off into a full sprint towards the Bloater. He knocked three Clickers aside and stabbed one with his combat knife before sliding to the Bloater. Before the Bloater could move and react, another deafening explosion followed, once again enveloping the horde in smoke and sending another bunch of bodies flying. Zack cursed loudly as more infected kept pouring out. Emile put the binoculars to his eyes to see that the horde had an end but much to his horror, a large group of Runners had separated from the horde and were now on a full sprint towards the Molotov Team.

"INCOMING RUNNERS! COVER THE MOLOTOV TEAM!" shouted Emile.  
"We can't get clean shots on them," said Andrew.

Gary cursed loudly as he gestured for his men to follow him. He quickly picked up a submachine gun and ran in full sprint towards the team.

"We do NOT let these fuckers pass under ANY circumstance, understood?" he shouted.  
"SIR YES SIR!"

Gary took aim and began to fire short bursts at the Runners that were ahead of the rest, dropping them quickly.

"All of you fall back now! We'll cover you!" he ordered.

The molotov team followed his instructions and ran as quickly as they could only for two of them to trip. Jordan looked in horror as the two people who fell...were Jessica and Vivian.

"COVER THEM NOW!" he screamed.

She scrambled to her feet as two Runners closed in only for two shots in quick succession to drop both of them. She looked back to see that Mabry had ignored previous orders to hold his fire. Jessica quickly got Vivian to her feet and fell back, allowing Gary's squad to mop them up.

"Good shooting Mabry," said Emile.

He nodded firmly as he reloaded the rifle.

"They're losing numbers," said Zack.  
"Yeah...but this...this seems too easy," said Emile.

He looked around until he caught sight of a large figure moving from the trees. A loud collection of screeches signaled the presence of seven Bloaters who were very close to the wall.

"WHEN THE FUCK DID THEY GET OVER THERE! LIGHT EM UP!" shouted Zack.  
"We can't! If we do they'll spread the spores!" snapped Emile.

Zack cursed loudly again.

"Everybody pull back!" he ordered.

Several members of the molotov team throw bottles at the Bloaters, creating a wall of flame that set four of them ablaze but they continued to shamble towards them.

"Jordan, take the team and finish off as much of the horde as you can and rendezvous with us at the station, make it quick," said Emile into the radio.  
_"On it, I'm sending the back seven, Kyle, Jackson and I have grenades,"_ he said.  
"Understood...good luck," he said.

The seven men sprinted back towards the wall as Kyle and Jordan turned to face the remainder of the horde.

"Who would've thought that it'd be the three of us?" said Kyle.  
"The more we can kill, the easier it will be for the others," said Jordan.

The third man, Jackson, pulled a pin and threw a grenade into the crowd, sending a huge cloud of body parts and gore into the air. Kyle removed a pin himself and threw it as hard as he could, producing the same results as ten Runners came at them. Jordan fired his pistol, managing to take down three of them but once his gun started clicking, he cursed loudly.

"Fucking gun is jammed!" he cursed.

He removed the pin from a grenade and threw it towards the horde before drawing his sword and taking down two more of them.

"We need to fall back...no more ammo," said Jackson.

Kyle looked at Jackson before raising his gun at him.

"Jackson...your mask is cracked," he said.

Jackson looked at his mask and gasped loudly.

"...I had no reason to stay anyways," he said.

He removed the last grenade from his pocket and put his last clip of ammo into the gun.

"Get going...I've got this," he said.

Kyle shook his hand as he nodded to Jordan to fall back. Taking a final breath, he raised his gun.

"For humanity..." he said to himself.

He emptied the clip into six Runners before removing his combat knife and slashing several of them across the neck as he shoved through the pack to reach as close to the center as he could. Smiling that he accomplished his mission, he pulled the grenade pin. He felt a great number of bites on his body until the great explosion followed...

* * *

**Meanwhile At The Gas Station**

"TAKE COVER!" shouted Zack.

The Bloaters obliterated the final blockade, smashing the cars to pieces and climbing over them.

"EAT THIS!" shouted Frani.

She threw a molotov and successfully connected with a Bloater. Mabry saw his chance and immediately fired three rounds into the head of the burning Bloater, dropping it to the ground. Mabry then grabbed Frani by the arm and dragged her into the station. A tremendous explosion brought everyone's attention to the horde which had ceased to move.

"All we have to do is take these fuckers out," said Emile.

He grabbed a molotov from Flora and threw it, successfully setting two of the Bloaters ablaze.

"SNIPER TEAM!" he shouted.

More gunshots rang out and the burning Bloaters dropped to the ground. A blood-curdling scream followed as two people were grabbed by two others. The survivors were helpless to watch a man get thrown like a ragdoll into a car. Before he could recover, the Bloater slammed its fists into his body, snapping it like a twig and letting out a large spray of blood. The other man didn't even get to react as the Bloater shoved it's fingers into his mouth and pulled on both sides, ripping his skull in two and exposing a horrifying image of blood and organs. One of the Bloaters looked towards its next target...Doan.

"DOAN! RUN!" shouted Emile.

She tried to do so but a pair of hands pulled her out of the way of the slamming arms. She looked to see that Jordan had made it back and managed to save her.

"Let's get outta here!" he shouted.

Doan scrambled to her feet as Jordan pulled her to her feet.

"Flora!" he shouted.

She nodded and threw a molotov to him. He managed to catch it with both hands before lighting it and throwing it at the Bloater. Rather than to wait for a sniper shot, Jordan unloaded his pistol into the face of the Bloater, dropping it to the ground. He fell back as the remaining two Bloaters came forward.

"LIGHT THOSE MOTHERFUCKERS UP!" shouted Gary.

Three molotovs flew through the air and lit them ablaze. Zoey popped out from cover and shot one of them in the head with a shotgun, destroying it and dropping it to the ground. The final one moved to attack but the combined weapons fire from Mabry, Kyle and Jordan brought it down, ending the threat.

Jordan sighed in relief and looked to everyone else with a smile.

"We did it..." he whispered.

He turned to Jessica and Vivian who were standing in the corner.

"You two alright?" he asked as he approached them.

They did not respond. He laughed nervously as Kyle joined him.

"I guess they were really scared," said Kyle.

Not even two seconds after his words, Jessica turned around and sprang at Jordan, her eyes now golden.

"NO! NO! NO! HOW THE FUCK DID THIS HAPPEN!" screamed Maria.

Jordan felt tears jerking in his eyes as Vivian sprang at Kyle who caught her by the neck and put her in a chokehold. Kyle closed his eyes as he violently jerked his arms to the right, snapping her neck.

"OH MY GOD! NO! NOT VIVIAN! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS SHIT!" screamed Doan.

Jordan threw Jessica off of him and rose to his feet, his face hidden by the large hood of his jacket covering his eyes.

"I came back..." he whispered.

She screamed and ran at him again only for the sickening sound of flesh slicing to follow.


	9. Easing The Pain

**(A/N): I want to take the time to thank everyone for participating! Special thanks to Vivian and Jessica who played key parts so if you're reading this now, know that I'm very grateful to have had you two as part of the fun.  
**

**Slowing things down a bit to create some real feels here. Thanks to everyone for the support and sustaining this writing high of mine!**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Easing The Pain**

* * *

**One Month Later- The Compound**

"Everything up and running?"  
"Exactly how we pictured it to,"

Zack smiled.

"Glad I could help," he said as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

I flicked the switch and much to my relief, the generator was fully functional.

"Now you guys have power in the second building as well…just make sure to come get fuel when you get the chance to alright?" said Zack.

I nodded and shook his hand.

"How are Zoey and Lily doing?" I asked.

Zack nervously laughed.

"They're with Emile on most days…still trying to figure out things about the infection," he replied.

I raised an eyebrow.

"That's not all," I teased.

Zack let out a sigh, knowing full well the answer he gave me was not what I wanted to hear.

"I cooked her up some food like from back home," he said.

I smiled at him.

"I knew you dug her the moment you laid eyes on her," I teased.

Zack shook his head.

"I could say the same for you Cassanova," he said with a grin.

I looked towards the others who were hard at work.

"I've been ignoring those things…too much is at risk to worry about that right now," I said.

"Cut your shit bro…don't start that fuckery with me," he said.

I looked at him, astonished at his tone.

"If I can run a fucking trading post and still find time for someone special, so can you," he snapped.

I rolled my eyes.

"You're crazy about her man…I'm gonna let you stand by and waste the chance like that," he said.

I shook my head.

"In due time…right now I'm much more concerned about everything here," I said.

He nodded as he blew his whistle, signaling his crew.

"We're heading home boys!" he said.

The crew quickly piled into the two trucks as Zack looked back at me.

"With those generators, your entire compound's got power and I managed to find all of the other items thanks to some friends and some raids at the Best Buy in town," he said.

I nodded gratefully and gave him a brotherly hug.

"I appreciate it as always my friend," I said.

Zack nodded as he gestured for Frani to get in. She quickly ran towards the truck but stopped to look at Jordan.

"I'll be back tonight!" she said.

I nodded as she gave me a hug.

"Don't worry if you can't get everything on the list...just get as much as you can," I said.

She nodded as she got into the truck with Zack.

"If you don't do something soon…you're gonna lose the spark," he said.

He got into the truck and left me to my thoughts.

* * *

**Later That Evening- The Mess Hall**

"Good job with the food tonight Jordan!" said Maria.

I smiled at her as I took the plate from her to add it to the washing pile.

"I have a surprise for you all so once you're done cleaning up, meet me in the bed quarters," I said.

Everyone looked at me, very surprised that I said that.

"I promise it'll be something good so just go bathe!" I said impatiently.

A collective laugh followed as everyone but Flora and Doan left.

"You need help washing these up?" asked Flora.  
"Go bathe your stinky self you little gremlin," I said ruffling her hair, spreading soap bubbles all over it.

She growled at me before leaving the room. Doan approached me and began to dry the dishes.

"After all the work you did today, aren't you dying for a shower?" I asked.

She smiled.

"It can wait ten minutes so we can get rid of all these dishes," she replied.

I shrugged; once she said she was going to do something, nothing would change her mind and attempting to dispute her thoughts would only result in your inevitable loss. I washed each of the plates, handed them to her and she would then dry and pack them into the cabinet. We finished rather quickly and half of me was very glad that she stayed to help me; it was a lot of dishes.

"I want to talk to you about something...a little later tonight," I said suddenly.

She looked at me for a moment as if she were attempting to figure out what but my emotionless gaze made it impossible for her to discern it.

"Alright, the usual spot?" she asked.

I nodded and she smiled.

"I'll be there," she said nodding.

She left the room to go shower and after a moment, I did as well.

* * *

**A Few Minutes Later-Inside The First Building, The Men's Private Showers**

Extremely rapid breathing broke my reading concentration. I jumped to my feet and rushed into the room to find that Kyle and Jordan were leaning over their respective sinks, appearing as if they were trapped in an illusion.

"Are you guys ok?!" I said.

No response and the look of fear in both their eyes could only tell me that their Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder was attacking their minds once again. I placed my hands on both their backs.

"You're not there guys! You're with us!" I bellowed.

It took several moments for them to respond until Jordan broke out of his trance first. His breathing slowed and I could see his eyes had turned red and tears had started to pouring from them. Killing Jessica couldn't have sit well in his conscience...especially since he was good friends with her. When he killed her back at the station, he didn't really respond to any of us about it and chose to be his usual, lone wolf self. Now I could see that killing her really had a lasting effect on his mind...it must've been hard coming back only for her to have still become infected despite all his efforts. Jordan had also grown close to Vivian during the short time they spent together as she would always help him with the cooking, if not doing it entirely herself. She was a really sweet girl...but Kyle had no choice but to kill her else he risked the entire team. Kyle was easier at taking these decisions but killing a 14 year old girl couldn't sit well in anyone's head...especially since she had become part of the family.

None of us were taking the losses very well. Doan and Jessica had bonded rather well and Vivian had grown into a sort of little sister to her. Flora had also lost one of her closest friends but she was a very strong girl; she goes about her day without a worry and takes things as they come which was incredibly commendable for someone of her age. Maria also took the losses hard, though she wasn't there to witness the death so she was considerably less affected.

Jordan turned to me.

"How's Kyle?" he asked.

He was panting from his vision and I could feel his rapid heartbeat despite my hand being on his back.

"I'm fine," replied Kyle.

He leaned up from the sink before leaving the room without a further word. Jordan took a deep breath before turning to leave.

"Thanks Mabry...I don't know what would've happened if you didn't snap me out of it," he said.

I nodded.

"Take it easy man...if you need some time off to relax a little; you of all people have earned it," I said.

Jordan closed his eyes.

"No amount of relaxing is going to get those memories out of my mind," he said.

He left the room.

* * *

**20 Minutes Later- The Bed Quarters**

"So what's this surprise?" asked Flora.

I watched as Jordan gestured for us to follow him to the third building. He had a smile on his face as he opened the door and invited us inside. We all entered the room to see darkness but I immediately started to squeal once he turned on the lights.

_"This must've been what he and Zack were working on for the past two weeks,"_

The room was practically converted into a leisure room. The bar supplies left from the other room were all moved into here and homemade bar stools sat in front of the counter. Behind the counter was a large assortment of different alcohols and chasers and much to my surprise, a mini fridge was underneath the alcohol and judging from the presence of electricity in the room, it was still working. There was also a large set of speakers complete with a slightly worse for wear iPod dock sitting on top of them. What really made me squeal was that a microphone complete with a stand was attached to one speaker on the right which made karaoke very much possible now. I looked up and noticed that somehow, a projector was mounted on the ceiling and a very long cord ran down to a desktop computer that sat on the left of the iPod speaker set, complete with a desk. There was ample space for a dance floor and there was also a round table with three packs of playing cards in the middle of it as well as a set of dominoes. Finally, there was a disco ball mounted roughly twenty feet away from the projector.

"How did you do this?" I asked in disbelief.  
"Zack and I along with some friends did a lot of work these past two weeks but I think this was something that we needed...we don't really get to spend a lot of time together considering that most of us have a lot of work to do every day," replied Jordan.

I smiled at him.

"So you went through the trouble of getting this whole room done...for all of us?" asked Kyle.

He nodded.

"You all deserve it," he replied.

I couldn't help but grab him in a hug. Feeling a single arm wrap around my back indicated that he greatly appreciated my gesture. He then moved behind the counter before taking the shaker down from the shelf.

"Besides...how else are we gonna hear that beautiful voice of yours Maria?" he said with a wink.

I blushed profusely at his compliment and turned away. He chuckled.

"So...anyone feel like having a party?" he asked.  
"With just us?" asked Mabry raising an eyebrow.

A loud knock followed almost as if on cue as Jordan smiled brightly.

"Well...I wouldn't say that..." he snickered.

* * *

**Later That Night**

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!" growled Frani.

Flora snickered loudly as she took a gulp of her soda.

"HOW ARE YOU SO DAMN FAST?!" snapped Frani.  
"Because I'm awesome?" she replied.

Flora had beaten Frani in a game of Speed for the third time in a row. Another song shuffled on the karaoke machine as Flora immediately turned and started cheering.

"Who's up next to sing?" asked Zack.

I looked up from wiping a glass clean and shook my head with a smile.

"I will!" said Zoey.  
"You sure you want to sing this one?" asked Kyle with a chuckle.

Zoey's red face indicated that she was already quite tipsy.

"HELL YEAH!" she cheered as she quickly got in front of the microphone.

Zack laughed loudly as he approached the bar and gestured me to give him a drink.

"Same thing as before?" I asked.

Zack nodded as I quickly put some ice in a glass and pour a generous helping of Scotch and put a lime on the side. He nodded and raised the glass before taking a sip.

"You say you used to be a bartender before?" he asked.  
"Back when I used to go to college in Florida yeah," I replied.

He smiled.

"You're pretty damn good at this shit man, glad to have you here," he said once again raising his glass.

I slung the towel over my right shoulder as I took a gulp of water. A few seconds later, a few women approached the bar. The party ended up being quite a gathering with a total of twenty people being in attendance.

The month of March went by very quickly and I was astonished with how much we managed to accomplish in that month. Thanks to Zack and his friends, we were able to get a power station up and running which gave power to the entire compound but during the day, in order to put less wear and tear on that equipment, we used generators that used fuel. Since most of us were now going out into the woods to hunt or gather fruits or water, we didn't spend a lot of time at the compound regardless apart from Maria and Frani who were our designated housesitters. Maria ended up hurting her leg after an accident resetting a whiplash trap near the compound but Emile was more than happy to make the trip and patch her up. She would probably be able to move as normal again in a few more days. Frani decided to stay back so she could read more on cooking due to her desire of helping me in the kitchen. Every now and again, Flora would stay instead of Frani so she could keep tabs on Maria's leg considering she was the most experienced medical mind we had on hand.

Zoey and Lily made a trip to the trading post every week in order to help Emile with studying the sample we managed to recover from the horde but returned on weekends to spend time with us and thanks to Zack's friends, we were able to recover from the tremendous amount of fuel that we had to use in that strike. It wasn't too much of an issue and if it was, they would come back no more than three days later than scheduled. The part that interested me the most was the growing attraction between Zack and Zoey as well as Lily and Emile.

Emile's great medical mind was one of the things that drew Lily to him as she had a strong desire to learn as much as she could from it. Though the attraction on her end wasn't very clear, I could tell that Emile really started to like her. I could totally understand why however because it wasn't very often that someone wanted to learn the details of being a doctor and even less often for someone as beautiful as her. I felt happy for him; being a doctor was often a lonely job because he had to spend so much of his time researching more on the fungus. Zoey also helped out with this but she often spent a lot of her time gathering as much things as she could to make the research effective. The last time I checked on her, she was trying to get a lot of equipment from our friends in the west who actually had a hospital as part of their base of operations. They sent her a lot of what she needed but evidently, she still needed more. Zack took the chance to act upon his interest in her, mostly because she was the only one he didn't consider to be "too young". Zoey was an incredibly beautiful woman with a great mind and one hell of a bubbly personality, something that was needed in these harsh times. I didn't know where exactly they were at but for Zack to be so happy after losing Irina a month ago, she had to have been working some form of magic.

He definitely liked the idea of us having a party to take a load off and he had no problems in setting things up. We had to spend the last two weeks working to get the power station working while he had Gary and his men bring in all the equipment for the room over in secret. Once we managed to get the power station running, it wasn't very difficult to get the room set up. Zack really was a man who could get his hands on just about anything and I was so thankful to have him as one of my, if not my closest friend.

"Jordan is it?"

I snapped from my thoughts to see that four women had walked up to the bar. I nodded.

"What can I get you?" I asked politely.  
"Screwdrivers for all of us and do something light for her," said one of them.

She pointed back and much to my surprise, the person in question was Doan. I nodded as I quickly set to work, removing the freshly squeezed orange juice from the fridge. I was thankful that I remembered to squeeze them and load them into containers because they certainly came in handy now. I took down a bottle of Grey Goose Vodka as I loaded ice into the shaker. The ladies were watching me work as I skillfully poured everything into the shaker and began to do some of my old shaking tricks, tossing it into the air in different ways until I was satisfied with the mixture. I used a spoon and poured a little of the mixture into it and tasted it, absolutely loving how fresh orange juice tasted with the light vodka. I placed four glasses on the table and filled all three of them before putting a lime slice on each of the rims. I then took down one more glass and looked at Doan.

_"She likes sweet things...but she can't handle her alcohol very well so I'll go easy on this one..."_

I took out a container of milk, thankful that Andrew was able to send me a fresh shipment yesterday from his friends at the farm to the south. I loaded some ice into the blender and smiled as I took down the container of coffee. Zack caught sight of my actions.

"YOU STILL HAVE SOME OF THAT?! GOD I LOVE THAT COFFEE!" he cheered.  
"Jamaican Blue Mountain's the way to go," I said with a chuckle.

He raised a thumb as I dropped a tablespoon of the coffee into the blender. I then poured milk into the blender until I was satisfied with the volume. I then took down a bottle of hazelnut vodka and lightly applied it to the mixture, being very careful to not overwhelm the other flavors as it was a strong vodka. I then reached into the mini fridge and pulled out a bar of milk chocolate. I broke a generous piece from it before using a knife to chop it up finely. The women looked at me in awe and the speed of my work and I was sure I heard a couple of moans of interest but I paid them no heed. I loaded the chocolate into the blender and put a my hand on my chin.

_"It's missing something...what is it missing..."_

A bell went off in my head as I quickly ran out of the room and picked some peppermint leaves from the plant sitting on the windowsill. I returned and chopped them finely before loading a small amount of it into the blender. Before I pressed the button, I shook up the mixture vigorously, remembering my old rule of always making sure the dry ingredients infused well until I put it back on the base and blended it thoroughly. I washed off the spoon quickly before taking a taste of the drink.

_"Goddamn that's good...needs just a little more mint in there and it's perfect,"_

I put more of the mint leaves into it and blended it once more before tasting it once more.

_"Bingo,"_

I removed a bottle of chocolate syrup and lined the inside of the cup with it and then lining the rim before pouring the drink into it. I then stuck a straw into the cup before pushing it towards the women, who at this point were just staring at me.

"Where did you learn all of that?" asked one of them.  
"I read a lot...and I used to be a bartender," I replied.

Some of them tried to stay and get my attention but Maria's beautiful voice drew my attention away. I was so in the zone in making the drinks that I didn't notice that she was already at the microphone.

"Give her something lively!" shouted Kyle

Maria laughed nervously as Gary cycled through the songs on the iPod. He smiled at a particular one and let it play. I began to hear a very familiar beat...in fact, it was one of my personal favorite songs. Gary had a really good taste in music...very similar to my own mostly. The beat was indeed lively and it wasn't long before everyone was bobbing their head or outright dancing. Even I couldn't but start to dance a little in my own way. Then came the vocals...then my breath was taken away.

That voice...that glorious voice.

_"Use Somebody by Armin Van Buuren?...man's got a good taste in music,"_

I watched her movements and how lost in the music she was as she hit every single note as if it were her own song. I couldn't help but close my eyes and rock to the sound of her voice. Once the long verse was finished, everyone erupted into cheers as the fast Trance beats came back again, sending a fresh wave of energy and electricity throughout the room. I felt an arm suddenly wrap around mine and much to my surprise, Lily was in front of me.

"If you don't go dance with her right now I swear to god I'm going to smash you with that glass," she growled.

I hadn't even noticed that Doan was getting lost in the music and was dancing with the friends she made back at the post. I shook my head.

"This isn't the kind of song I'd consider dancing with someone to," I replied as I retracted my arm.

Lily shook her head in disappointment.

"At some point tonight, you're getting on that floor if I have to beat it into you!" she snapped.

I shook my head but understood her point; she only wanted me to have fun and to stop being worried about everyone...even if it was only for a night.

* * *

**One Hour Later**

"Who's next?" asked Flora.

After hearing most people sing a song at least once, it really seemed to be time to hear Maria again; everyone really loved her voice. It was really funny watching the drunken men sing silly songs like _The Power Rangers Theme_ or even _Never_ _Gonna Give You Up_ but what really caught our attention was when Jordan volunteered to sing a song. I could tell that he had a few drinks as he wasn't walking all that straight but he made it to the microphone. Gary approached him and he whispered something into his ear before nodding.

"I'm really sorry if I give you all ear cancer...but I'll give it a try since everyone else has," he said.

I smiled brightly as Flora handed him the microphone and stepped off. A familiar beat started to play until I recognized the guitar chords.

_"He would pick something inspirational...he's too damn nice,"_

"If you all know the song, feel free to sing along so I don't sound like a car wreck," he said nervously.

I could tell his heart was going a mile a minute from the expression on his face and the way his legs refused to stay still. I couldn't blame him; everyone was watching, including the girl he liked.

_"When We Stand Together by Nickelback? Couldn't have chosen a more fitting song for the situation,"_

He took a rather deep breath but then I remembered that he was asthmatic in addition to be extremely nervous; what he was doing right now was probably something he would ordinarily never do. After the first verse, everyone begin clapping to the beat and most even joined in on singing the hook, removing the strain of him having to sing it and waste more of his already shallow breaths. Even I couldn't help but join in. Another surprising moment was at the end, when he actually managed to hold the note to close out the first chorus. He held the note surprisingly well for someone with such a deep voice.

By the second verse, everyone was singing; even Flora and Frani who were up to now still trying to beat each other in card games. I felt my heartstrings tug slightly as I realized that he was looking at Doan though her eyes were closed as she got lost in the music herself. I snickered softly to myself; he was in for it tonight!

* * *

**Thirty Minutes Later**

I couldn't help but start rocking with my eyes closed.

My voice moved in sync with hers.

The intense beat that followed the song inspired many of the adults to go on the dance floor. I laughed softly as I took another gulp of water until Zack moved in front of me.

"You gonna go dance this time?" he asked.

I looked at him as if he were insane.

"Don't you know me by now?" I asked.

He gestured to the crowd and I realized that Doan had disappeared from her spot with her third drink of the night now empty. I looked on in amazement as surely enough, she was amongst the crowd that was dancing. I blushed at the thought of actually going to join her until Zack punched me in the arm.

"Get going you idiot," he snapped.

Much to my surprise, Zoey appeared and grabbed Zack by the arm.

"This beat is fucking **SICK**! Let's dance!" she squealed.

He shoved the glass he had towards me and hobbled off to dance with her. I let out a breath as I began to clean the utensils I just used. The beat continued for roughly a minute as I cleaned the blender out and left it to dry on the rack. I realized that I was the only one not dancing apart from Flora and Frani as they were still engaged in their intense contest of Yu-Gi-Oh. I kind of regretted finding those things for her but I suppose it helped; she was having fun which is all that should matter. I didn't even notice that Doan had walked up to the counter.

"Is there a reason you're not out there enjoying yourself?" she asked.

I shrugged.

"Dancing's never been my kind of thing," I replied.

She smiled and shook her head.

"Considering the way the world is now...is this really the time to worry about what you _wouldn't_ do? she asked.

I opened my mouth to answer until I noticed her eyes. It was my instinct to always look out for others to see if they're drunk or not and I could see dilation in her eyes.

**~ o ~**

"Are you alright? Your pupils are dilated," he asked.

I shook my head in slight impatience but understanding; that was typical Jordan. I knew he went easy on me with the drink and I positively loved that he thought of me when he made it. I wasn't really able to hold my alcohol well so even though he didn't use a lot of it, I was buzzed. I knew that I wasn't anywhere near drunk however because I danced most of it off in addition to drinking a lot of water to ensure I didn't go off the deep end.

I actually didn't notice that he was at the bar during all those times there was really nice dance music playing but for some reason, Lily came up to me and pointed at him. She kept telling me that he needed some encouragement so once I had a break, I came over here.

"Do you ever stop being concerned for others?" I asked with a soft laugh.

He turned away but I could've sworn I saw signs of a blush.

"...I've never danced a day in my life," he said softly.

I could tell that he actually really wanted to dance but he just couldn't bring himself to go on the floor due to what appeared to be a horrible case of stagefright. I sighed softly as the song ended but felt a blush come to my face as I saw Maria go up to the microphone.

"I'll be singing the last song of the night! Thanks to all of you for your amazing reception!" she said.

I clapped along with the crowd as she turned to look at me.

"I've been seeing some potential couples in here so this song is for all you guys!" she said.

The strikingly familiar sound of a song I knew all too well started to play. I heard Jordan curse softly beneath his breath as he looked away from me. I gestured him to give me a bottle of water and he did so, still looking away from me.

"Why are you so nervous?" I asked.

He was silent for a few moments as Maria cleared her throat and prepared to sing. Much to my shock, Jordan walked around the counter and stood in front of me before holding a hand out to me. He was blushing profusely.

"...Wanna dance?" he asked.

I felt a blush of my own creep in. I looked around and saw that a few faces were looking at us but at the moment, I didn't give a damn; he mustered the courage to ask me.

"I thought you said you've never danced a day in your life?" I asked.

He looked at me with a heart-meltingly sincere stare.

"I can't think of another person to learn with than you," he said.

If my face wasn't already red, it had to have been a tomato. I smiled and placed my hand in his as he led me to the floor. I heard him swallow loudly as he looked at me, hoping that I would teach him what to do. I shook my head and directed his hands to my waist before leaning in more for a closer dance.

"I'm really sorry if I step on your foot," he whispered.  
"Stop worrying and relax," I replied softly.

He let out a breath as Maria began to sing. I didn't know what song this was once she started singing; the piano melody sounded so familiar.

**~ o ~**

_"GODDAMN IT GARY PICKED MY FAVORITE SONG!"_

**_"Sound Of The Drums By Armin Van Buuren...goddamn it__ Gary,"_**

I slowly rocked with her in my arms, doing my very best to ignore the glances from the others. A few cheers and wolf whistles followed and I swallowed hard, trying desperately to keep my heart from jumping through my ribs. As if in response to my tension, Doan placed her head on my shoulder and hugged me.

"Ignore them...focus on me," she whispered.

**~ o ~**

_"It's about FUCKING time! God I got so sick of this idiot hiding his feelings for her!"_

I looked to Zoey before holding out my hand.

"May I have this dance beautiful?" I asked.

She raised an eyebrow.

"You sure you can dance after all that Scotch and Whiskey you drank?" she asked.

I responded by bowing down slightly, still with my hand extended.

"We'll find out now won't we?" I replied with a wink.

She rolled her eyes but smiled and placed her hand in mine. I quickly took her out to the floor before slowing down and holding her waist, rocking with her in sync with Maria's voice. I half expected the Trance beats to ruin the mood but much to my surprise, the gentle piano melody continued. I looked at Gary only to get a wink from him.

_"Motherfucker's a wizard..."_

He had somehow edited this version of the song and placed a piano section nearly identical to the initial one to drag out the gentle atmosphere. I looked over Zoey's shoulder at Emile. I mouthed:

_"GET THE FUCK OUT HERE NOW!"_

**~ o ~**

I nodded at Zack as I approached Lily, who at this point was merely rocking her head with her eyes closed to the soft piano. I cleared my throat nervously.

"...Would you like to dance?" I asked.

Much to my surprise, she smiled at me before dragging me to the floor. I placed my hands on her waist and she immediately leaned onto my shoulder.

"...Did you want to dance this whole time?" I asked.  
"...Maybe," she whispered.

I laughed softly.

"I'm sorry for being blind," I said.  
"Better late than never," she replied.

I allowed my mind to ease into the music as I looked at Jordan. The poor guy was so nervous at first but Doan probably managed to calm him down and now, they actually seemed the most into it out of everyone on the floor.

**~ o ~**

The two minutes of piano music felt like gloriously long hours; this piano music was really uplifting. I looked at Jordan and smiled at the calm and happy look on his face; it was really about time he got some relaxation in because he worked so hard. It didn't help that he had insomnia and that horrible case of PTSD now haunting him but it was good that he finally decided to take a load off.

Maria soon began to sing again and for some reason, each of the couples pulled their heads back to look at each other. I whistled loudly as Maria closed out the song with a beautiful note and once she did, the whole room erupted into cheers and whistles. Zoey grabbed Zack by a hand and ran outside with him. Lily gave Emile a warm hug before leaving to return to the food that Andrew had just brought in from the grill outside but much to her surprise, he joined her. Jordan and Doan however continued to look at each other as if the rest of the world didn't exist. A few moments passed before he hugged her deeply and whispered something to her before letting go of her. She seemed very happy with what he said as she returned to her friends. He went to the bar counter and I took the chance to approach him.

"Enjoyed yourself?" I asked.  
"I should be asking you that Miss Master Duelist," he replied ruffling my hair.

I shook my head.

"You know how much it means to me to see you happy right?" I asked.

He handed me a bottle of water before turning the light by the bar off and walking around to me. He then hugged me.

"I couldn't be happier so don't worry alright?" he assured.

I smiled at him.

"Did she ease the pain?" I asked.

He smiled again.

"More than you'll ever know," was his solemn reply.


	10. Journal Entries: Lily Nguyen

**(A/N): Been waiting to write these and I'm pretty excited.  
**

**Hope you enjoy this everyone! Especially you Lily!**

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own _The Last Of Us_. I am merely using an altered world inspired by the masterpiece created by _Naughty Dog_.**

* * *

**Journal Entries #1 &amp; #2: Lily Nguyen**

* * *

_**Date: March 12th 2015**_

_I didn't think much would come of working with these people...but I have to admit that they've become like a family to me. Funny how things get so real after a mere few weeks of meeting them but that was the apocalypse for you; it brings people together because the need to survive is stronger than everything else._

_I learned so much from Zoey and Emile that I knew enough to be able to actually partake in the experiments with my own agendas. Thus far, the samples that we recovered from the highway ended up being inconclusive because we just couldn't understand what the hell was accelerating the growth of the fungus so quickly._

_The biggest issue was that the fungus appeared to be the normal strain until it reaches Stage 1 in which it either quadruples in growth speed or progress to Stage 2 and then drastically increases in speed. Whatever the hell was going on with this fungus...one thing was for sure._

_It wasn't mother nature's doing. Someone was tampering with things they have no business tampering with._

_I could only hope that we could find the answer soon because the sooner we do, the better the chance we have of ensuring that our little attempt at civilization would continue to flourish._

_Time to get back to work...will write again once I get a break._

* * *

**_Date: March 20th 2015_**

_...Did I seriously just go out and do that?_

_What I thought was supposed to be a meet up at the bar to head out for an expedition was really just a party. I wasn't really interested in the idea of it but considering that Emile, Zoey and I had been working basically non-stop since we came back from the battle on the highway, I guess it was pretty well-deserved._

_It was also good to see everyone again. Despite losing two of their group, Jordan's friends were doing surprisingly well._

_Flora is a strong girl; Vivian's death couldn't have sat well in her mind but she was handling it so well that one wouldn't be able to tell that she was crying about it. She's a lot like her older brother and within the last couple of weeks, I learned a lot about them after spending a lot of time with them._

_Jordan was really distant at first and he definitely had a lot on his mind. I didn't blame him though; it couldn't have been easy to trek from Florida all the way here while taking care of his sister as well as himself. He was a good man to put so much at risk to protect her and he often put her before himself, which was both incredibly admirable and almost blindly stupid. He hardly took time for himself and every time he came to the post, he was looking for things for the compound. He was probably the only one who didn't do any personal trading. I got to sit down with him a few times here at the Valany and I managed to get him to open up...after getting a few drinks into him._

_He told me that once the compound is in a great position, he would take Kyle and Mabry to look for Gilfer's Sanctuary up north. I had heard rumors of the place from people here at the post but no one that I knew had actually been there. Gilfer's Sanctuary probably didn't open themselves to trade to avoid bandit raids, especially with that huge group wandering the woods around that region. He also let me know how guilty he felt about having to kill Jessica. In fact, it was something that he He also let me know a lot of things about the group as a whole._

_Francesca, who everyone affectionately referred to as Frani had taken up the mantle of becoming a marksman. She was already very interested in weapons and she often went to the range with Mabry so he could teach her how to shoot a rifle. She was surprisingly a natural at it despite her small size. She and Flora were probably closest to each other though she often looked at Jordan as her own older brother. She asks him for advice about many things and always looks out for him which was more testament to how the conditions of the world can bring people together._

_Speaking of Mabry...he wasn't much of a talker. He was hands down the best shot amongst the entire group though Flora wasn't too far behind. Then again...Flora can't really hold a big rifle and fire it without falling on her ass. Mabry took up the role of guardian and watchman, often standing watch at the post whenever he was here and even at the compound when the group caught wind of wandering herds of infected. He seemed to be very good friends with Kyle and Jordan and was on good terms with the girls...though he didn't really show an indication of any interest in knowing them well. He probably became so close to Jordan because he was the one who accepted him into the group...along with Doan and Jessica._

_Doan...I could honestly understand why Jordan felt so strongly for her. She was beautiful and had a heart of gold. He told me a lot about her kindness and how they first spoke to each other, which was essentially her expressing concern for him when he was really depressed. Considering all the shit that happened to him and the fact that he looks like he rarely gets good sleep, I wasn't surprised that she was there for him. I spoke to her enough to consider her a friend and everything he said about her was true...and then some. She kept the group in high spirits and she was quickly learning a lot of different skills. He talked about teaching her how to use a sword and one day, he would surprise her with her own once he got enough trading done. The most admirable thing about her I think however is just how well she was handling the apocalypse; she was the only one who didn't show any sign of insanity or depression. She was always in a great mood except when she was exhausted, which was understandable. She spent a lot of time with him however and they became very close friends, to the point where I saw the two of them together a lot of the time._

_Considering how much he spoke about her as well as how high he held her in his thoughts, it was pretty obvious that he cared for her deeply...something I kept encouraging him to let her know. Now that she was making regular trips to the post and making a lot of friends, especially male ones, he was running out of time. I tried numerous times to help him get over his stupid fears but he just couldn't bring himself to do it because he didn't want to ruin the chemistry of the group by making things awkward. I understood how it could be a problem but at the same time, was it really worth it to bottle up his feelings like that in addition to having all of those other things on his brain?_

_He was strong...but I don't think he could stand to soldier through this much longer, especially with his PTSD._

_Still...I could understand his feelings for her. If only he was as brave as Zack._

_Zack...this guy was just silly at times but he's a good man. This post could not be running without him around and very few people were as understanding and raring to help as he was. It didn't surprise me that he and Jordan were best friends and it wasn't just because the two of them from Jamaica. They were kindred spirits because both of them knew the pain of loss and both of them knew the need to protect others. Often times, Zack was the one who called the shots for the scouts as well as the security forces. He was probably under the most stress of us all...but he had Zoey with him._

_Those two were the power couple of the post without a doubt. I didn't really see them do anything but considering how easily Zoey was able to get Zack to do things like dance or follow her to other places, she had to be working some kind of magic on him. He really liked her as well; she was very mature and had an incredible mind behind that beautiful exterior. I didn't envy her at all because she was my closest friend apart from Jordan. She taught me a great deal about the infection and how it worked and she and I were often going out on expeditions to gather samples and also to test the river water to ensure it was still safe to drink. We went through a lot, including a few close encounters with some infected but she was really great with that crazy bow of hers and my crowbar was pretty good at getting the message across as well. It was a good thing we were so interested because Emile couldn't afford to leave the post anywhere near as much anymore because he gets a lot of patients. So I guess in essence, we were his assistants._

_Emile was an incredible man; he was extremely intelligent and I actually had no idea how the fungus grew but he was able to tell the difference between the mutated strain and the normal one by basing his guess on calculations. If it wasn't for him, we probably wouldn't have known how to handle them on the highway. Whenever Zoey went out with Zack, I spent most of my time with him, learning as much as I could. Every now and again, Emile would take me to get food which he would then cook and share with me. The fact that he was able to cook so well also surprised me. I didn't think I would get along so well with him but after spending nearly two weeks with him, I grew to respect him and he quickly evolved into a good friend. He was always there to answer my questions and I could always count on him to cheer me up._

_I really met some good people...I have yet to get to know Kyle and Maria very well but that was due to happen pretty soon anyway; Jordan planned a party for the group and I was invited but he needed some more time to get everything in place. If it wasn't these people...I probably would've refused but when Jordan took the time to visit just to invite me personally, there was no way I could say no._

_I guess I really am beginning to settle in with them; I nearly wanted to leave to go on my own because I got tired of how boring the post was but now that I had my friends..._

_Maybe we could get through this._


	11. A New Threat

**(A/N): Strike while the iron is hot?  
**

**Yep. You know the saying. Damn right I'm gonna do it.**

* * *

**Chapter 7: A New Threat**

* * *

**Later That Night- The Training Area**

I sheathed the sword and let out a breath after completing the routine that I read on. I was so thankful that Zack was able to find me a book detailing proper swordsmanship. I sat down as I unbuttoned my shirt to let it hand open; it was really getting hot out here considering the exercise I just went through.

"Do you ever stop working yourself to the bone?"

I turned to see that Doan had indeed come out just as I requested at the end of the party.

"I thought you went to sleep," I replied.

She shook her head.

"You said you had something to show me?" she asked curiously.  
"Give as well," I replied.

I picked up the book before handing it to her. She looked fascinated.

"Swordsmanship?" she asked.  
"Zack's friends raided a few stores and got a lot of useful things...I asked them to keep a lookout for some books and much to my surprise, they found a bunch of them," I explained.

I then showed her the book I was using.

"So what does this mean?" she asked.

I smiled at her as I walked over to my backpack and pulled out the present I had for her. She looked at me in disbelief.

"You said you wanted to learn how to use a sword so I did you a favor," I said.

I unwrapped the cloth to reveal two things, a training sword along with the wakizashi I somehow managed to hide from everyone. She looked absolutely ecstatic.

"You'll have to start with the training sword for a while...but I saw this at the post and I couldn't help but think of you," I said laughing nervously.

I held the sword at the sheath before holding the handle out to her.

"Draw it out slowly; it's extremely sharp," I instructed.

The sword's sheath was actually custom. It had the design of a jade dragon embroidered along the firm black cloth that covered it in it's entirety. I knew that the average sheath would be very rough on her hands so I asked the trader to wrap it in a gentler cloth to make it easier on her hands. This thing was extremely sharp so once she was able to wield it with actual skill, it would be an excellent weapon to fight off infected. She drew the sword out slowly and held it up.

"It's lighter than I thought it would be," she said.  
"That's because it's a wakizashi, not a katana like what I have," I explained.  
"What's the difference?" she asked.  
"A wakizashi is essentially a shorter version of a katana because as you will feel right now...a katana is a LOT heavier," I said.

I had her sheath the wakizashi before holding out my katana to her.

"Be careful...it's heavy," I warned.

She drew it out with two hands and lifted it up.

"You clean this thing everyday don't you?" she asked.  
"Every time I use it," I replied.

She tried to swing it around but I grabbed onto her hands.

"Easy there Battousai," I said within a chuckle.

She nodded and sheathed the blade. I then handed her the present along with two of the books.

"I don't know any of these styles except for Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu...so I can't exactly teach you a lot," I sighed.  
"We can learn together," she replied.

I looked up to see that she was smiling at me.

"You always think of me...it's really sweet," she whispered.

She placed the presents on the floor before hugging me. I couldn't even begin to respond as my cheeks turned to red Christmas lights.

"You're a really sweet person...I'm really flattered by all you've done for me," she continued.

I closed my eyes and took a breath as I leaned away from her. The smile on her face...it was a smile I'd grown to adore. It was difficult to keep logical thoughts whenever she looked at me like that. I swallowed hard.

_"I have to...before I lose my courage..."_

"I...was wondering...if...well," I began.

Much to my dismay, a loud gunshot went off. I looked towards the location it came from.

"Shit...that's by the river," I said.  
"Infected?" she asked.  
"I don't know...but I have to find out," I replied.  
"You're going out there at 2 AM?! Are you insane?!" she asked.  
"Mabry stood watch last night and he needs sleep...I won't be long," I said.

She shook her head firmly.

"I'm going with you," she said sternly.  
"If those are bandits...no, it's too dangerous," I argued.

Her face didn't change.

"You're not going out there alone...so either you willingly let me come or I follow you when you leave," she snapped.

There was a surprising amount of venom in her tone.

**~ o ~**

He was deep in thought for a few moments. I could tell it was hard for him to accept my terms; I didn't have a lot of experience in moving through the woods at night time. I had gone out a few times to reset some of the traps near to the gates but I had never ventured out that far before. His face seemed really deep in conflict until he let out a sigh.

"You've never moved through the woods at this time of night...thankfully it's a full moon out but if you're going to come, stick with me and don't leave my side...alright?" he asked.

His decision had clearly taken a great deal of willpower because he could just as easily run and disappear before I could catch up with him but he instead chose to trust me. I knew he wasn't in the least alright with me putting myself at risk but considering everything that happened between us, there's no way I was letting him go alone. He removed his shirt before putting a jacket over his t-shirt and tied his sword to his back. He then holstered the pistol on the bench in his jacket. He turned to me.

"Turn around," he requested.

I did as he asked. He reached around my waist and started to fumble with something.

"W-W-What are you doing?!" I said with a jolt.  
"Relax," he replied.

I felt a slight weight on my back and once he stepped away, I realized he had tied the wakizashi to my back.

"Unsheath it," he said.

I reached for the handle and pulled it out. He smiled.

"You didn't unsheath it clumsily...maybe you are a natural at this," he said.

He then moved behind me and guided my hands to the hilt.

"When you swing...you want to use either a one-handed strike for speed or a two-handed strike for power," he explained.

He used one of his legs to pull back my right one to adjust my posture.

"Use your hips to give your strike more power...and always remember to keep a firm grip on the hilt at all times or it will fly out of your hands," he instructed.

The proximity between his breath and my neck gave me goosebumps.

"There are nine targets you want to aim for in swordsmanship...but if they are infected, you only want to go for the head or the legs," he said.

He then stepped away.

"Strike the dummy over there with a one handed strike," he instructed.

I walked up to it before swinging it with my right hand and connecting with the head. The sword went half way through the head of the wooden dummy but I wasn't prepared for the pushback as my arm reverberated from the force.

"Your arm is too firm...soften it a little and try again," he instructed.

I did as he asked and much to my surprise, I sliced the section of the head clean off.

"Always remember to put enough power to go through your target because if you don't, the force will come back and hurt you," he said.

I nodded.

"Infected flesh is somewhat brittle and so are their bones...so it's not hard to get them," he explained.

He then turned to the gates.

"You ready?" he asked.

I nodded as I sheathed the sword and followed him.

* * *

**Several Minutes Later- The River**

"Get down...stay quiet," he said.

Doan nodded as she looked through the bushes to see five bandits around a campfire.

"How the fuck dd you not notice that damn trap," snapped one of them.  
"Who the fuck's gonna be around here at almost 3 in the morning?" replied the man in question.

A larger man rose from the log he was sitting on.

"Both of you shut up! We need to map out this place for the raid," he said.

The two men immediately silenced themselves as they looked to what appeared to be their leader.

"There's been a lot of talk about a compound...run by some kid and his friends," he said.

Jordan turned to Doan.

"They know about the compound..." he said in horror.

She looked on.

"We have no hope of hitting the trading post as it is now with that Zack fella running it the way he is," said one of the underlings.  
"Right about that...so we have to starve them out," he said.

He pointed to what seemed to be a map.

"This compound of theirs produces fruits and herbs because they appear to have some kind of gardening expert on the matter so it makes sense for us to take them down first...because we need to hit em where it hurts," said the large man.

Doan felt Jordan's hand tighten around hers.

"These motherfuckers aren't getting out of here alive..." growled the man.

Doan turned to see an intense glint of rage in his face.

"What's wrong?" she asked.  
"See that tattoo on his neck?" he replied.

She looked to see the image of a nuclear sign on the man's neck in black.

"That's the same gang that attacked Flora and I when we almost made it here...they call themselves The Fallout," he said.  
"Who are they?" she asked.  
"A group of bandits that started sweeping the state by storm...they're probably the largest gang in the state right now," he explained.  
"What do they want?" she asked.

Jordan shook his head.

"It makes no sense for them to sweep the state...killing everyone wouldn't help, especially if people are researching a cure," he said with a hand to his chin.

His eyes widened as he quickly dragged her down to the ground to look beneath the bushes.

"What's wrong?" she whispered.  
"Listen,"

The familiar sound of Clickers filled the air but the bandits didn't seem even remotely worried.

"These fuckers again?" asked one of the men.

The large man smiled.

"We've herded them very well...I was amazed that they managed to hold back that horde that we managed to push together," he said.

Jordan gritted his teeth and the shaking of his body showed just how furious he was,"

"These fuckers were the one who brought the horde to us...it's because of this gang...why Jessica and Vivian are dead..." he growled.

His free hand held his sword but Doan shook her head.

"If you go out there...they'll kill you...just stay calm," she whispered.

He looked at her as if in shock but the sincere look in her eyes defused the bomb within him.

"I know they're the ones that killed our friends...but running out there without a plan will only make their sacrifices worth nothing," she said.

He closed his eyes and nodded.

"We need to tell the others...especially Zack," he said.

She nodded as they turned to leave only for a loud screech to fill the air. Doan's hand separated from his as a Runner had somehow made its way over to the two of them and tackled Jordan. She screamed loudly, drawing the attention of the bandits.

"A girl eh?...been a while since we've found one of them,"

Jordan managed to snap the Runner's neck before jumping to his feet. Before he could react, one of the men had already made his way over to her before grabbing her and throwing her to the ground. He didn't seem to notice Jordan's presence and he took his chance, unsheathing his sword and thrusting it directly through his chest. He ripped the blade from his chest before running over to Doan and helping her to her feet. He eyed the other men as they raised their guns but knowing full well that the area was full of infected, they wouldn't dare to fire.

"Who're you two kids?" asked the large man.  
"You're intruding," said Jordan.

He chuckled.

"Do you know who you're talking to kid?" he roared.  
"The same degenerate fucks who attacked me and my little sister four months ago," he replied angrily.

The large man chuckled.

"You have no idea who you're fucking with kid," he snapped.  
"As far as I can see, you're just a hulking waste of organs," replied Jordan.

He growled loudly.

"You're lucky we're surrounded by infected or I'd fill your face with fucking lead!" he snapped back.

Jordan swung his sword, cleaning the blade of the blood as he held it up at the man.

"Whatever the hell you all are planning...I'm not letting you get away with it," he said.  
"You're not gonna be alive to stop me...get him boys...but leave the girl," said the man.

**~ o ~**

Jordan released my hand as he blocked one of the machetes coming at him, stumbling from the clear difference in strength. He rolled backwards as one of the men suddenly came towards me. I unsheated the blade and held it defensively but he laughed.

"You have no idea how to use that thing do you?" he questioned.

I didn't answer him as I swung it at him but he effortlessly dodged it, still laughing.

"You've never killed someone before have you? Aren't you just an innocent little butterfly?" he mocked.

Much to my surprise, Jordan had somehow ran from the other man and tackled the one facing me to the ground. He quickly recovered and jumped back to his feet but his heavy panting could only tell me that he was running out of steam. He wasn't used to being in prolonged fights and his asthma couldn't have been helping him in the least. He did his best not to show weakness but after seeing him return from hunting, panting so heavily...I knew all too well that he was getting tired and holding up that heavy sword had to have been putting strain on his already exhausted body.

The man ran at him again but much to my shock, Jordan managed to sidestep and trip him. Before the man could recover, he stabbed him in his chest. His companion drew his attention from me and managed to land a hard punch across Jordan's face, sending him stumbling to the ground. I tried to swing the sword again but the man managed to duck under the swing and he shoved me to the ground. I lost the grip I had on the sword as he turned to Jordan, who was still stunned. He drew his combat knife before lunging at him. Jordan barely got to move and I heard the sickening sound of blade meeting flesh. Jordan's screamed loudly but the man did as well. A split second later, I saw a blade protruding from his back. The man fell back to the ground and I realized that Jordan had pulled the machete the other man dropped and managed to get it in front of himself. I was horrified to see a combat knife in Jordan's right shoulder. He struggled to get to his feet but the large man was immediately on top of him, kicking him hard in the stomach and sending him rolling to the trunk of a tree.

"Those were two good men...useful men...I'm gonna make you suffer,"

I watched as he kicked him four times before grabbing him by the neck and much to my surprise, he lifted him and slammed him against the tree.

"You can't stop us...there's no end to us...we will have this state and we will rebuild our way," he said.

**~ o ~**

I no longer had the strength to fight and with that combat knife deep in my shoulder, I didn't have many options. I prepared for death; satisfied that I was able to protect Doan. Now, she would be able to escape and warn the others. For some reason however, my death didn't follow.

"Wait a minute..." he said.

He lowered the mask over my face.

"My men talked a lot about someone who used a katana...you're him!" he said pointing a finger.

He laughed loudly.

"You're the kid that runs the compound aren't you?" he questioned.

I made no move to speak.

He smiled as he turned to Doan.

"I know just what to do with you.." he said.

The last thing I remember seeing is a fist coming towards my face.

**~ o ~**

The man slung Jordan over his shoulder.

"You know how to get back to your friends dontcha?" he asked.

I couldn't speak; what was he going to do?

"Run back to your friends and tell them that I'm offering them a chance to surrender...if they come in and join us, this kid right here will be alright...but for every day that you don't respond to us," he began.

He turned to his unconscious body.

"I'll break two bones in his body...for each day you don't respond to us...come to this place on the map," he said.

He removed a red marker from his pocket and marked it before picking up his bag.

"If you follow me, I'll kill him," he snapped.

I was powerless as he walked away with him...and I don't think I've hated myself as much as I do right now.


	12. The Price Of Freedom

**(A/N): Didn't see that coming did you? Yep. Thought so.**

**Following up while the iron is now RED HOT. And well...time to go hide under a rock. This time, I'm not coming out.**

* * *

**EDIT 2: Real steamy version here now. I decided to not censor anything because well...because _I can._ Reread this chapter once more, there's definitely a significant change in the content here.**

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own The Last Of Us**

* * *

**Chapter 8: The Price Of Freedom**

* * *

**Two Days Later- Glacier National Park's Borders**

I looked at the map carefully.

"It should be just up ahead beyond those trees," I said.  
"Got it," said Gary.

I rolled up the map as the truck stopped. I turned to everyone.

"Everyone stick to the plan," I ordered.

I looked at Doan, who still had completely soulless eyes. I put a hand on hers.

"We're gonna get him back...ok?" I assured.

She didn't respond to me. She was in no condition to even respond. Flora attempted to calm her down with a hug but nothing was getting through that soulless exterior.

* * *

_**Yesterday Morning- The Trading Post**_

_"WHAT?!" I screamed._

_I cursed loudly and slammed my first into the desk in anger. I looked at Flora who was now crying. The group looked completely down in morale...especially Doan who was usually in high spirits. In fact, she seemed completely devoid of happiness. I walked up to her and put a hand on her back._

_"It wasn't your fault...you did everything you could've," I said in an attempt to breathe life into her._

_She looked at me with tears welled up within her eyes._

_"I...I couldn't do anything...it all happened so fast...if I was more proactive...maybe I could've..." she sobbed._

_Maria was instantly at her side and hugged her warmly._

_"What're we gonna do?" asked Kyle.  
"We have to go get him...but I know The Fallout...they're luring us into a trap," I said._

_I put a hand on my chin._

_"The large man...did he have a Russian accent?" I asked._

_Doan slowly nodded and I cursed._

_"That guy's second in command...his name is Berkley," I said.  
"Who is he?" asked Mabry._

_I sighed deeply._

_"...He used to be a part of the post...but we kicked him out because of how relentless he was; it was inhumane and he ended up getting three people killed," I explained._

_I explained his story, detailing back to when he used to lead the security force. He led a squad of four others but his bloodlust was too much...and he ended up taking them all into a suicide mission that resulted in three of them dying. Once we found out from the remaining survivor that it was his word that cost them their lives, Berkley killed him during the night and left us, swearing revenge for throwing him out._

_"Berkley's drawing us into a trap...I know the way he operates," I said._

_Emile stepped forward._

_"We have to get moving then!" said Emile.  
"We can't...the fuel shipment isn't scheduled until tomorrow and we have no hawks to send to them," I explained._

_Emile cursed loudly._

_"Berkley will keep his word...Jordan's not going to last very long unless we get there," he growled._

_Flora continued to cry as Frani walked over to her and hugged her in an attempt to calm her down._

_"So what the fuck can we do?! I'm not going to stand here and wait for my friend to suffer!" bellowed Mabry._

_I sighed softly._

_"We'll have to wait till tomorrow...there's nothing we can do," I sighed._

_Zoey stepped forward._

_"I have a plan," she said._

_I looked at her as if she were insane._

_"There's no way he's going to let us come there and walk away without some kind of repercussion," she said.  
"Are you thinking of fighting?" I asked._

_She shook her head._

_"Just safety measures...because if the way you describe him is right, there's no way he's going to let you walk away from there alive," she said._

_I swallowed hard._

_"If he catches wind of it...he'll kill Jordan on the spot," I groaned._

_Zoey shook her head._

_"Trust me?" she asked._

* * *

**The Rendezvous Point**

"Everyone in place?" asked Zack.  
_"Ready to fire if needed,"_ replied Mabry.

He turned the dial to a different channel.

"You in place?" he said.  
_"Clear shot,"_ replied Zoey.

Zack closed his eyes as he turned the dial on the radio to link both channels.

"Can you both hear me?" he asked.  
_"Loud and clear,"_ they said in unison.

Zack nodded in relative satisfaction before he turned to me.

"Let's get him back," he said.

He opened the door but turned back to me.

"No matter what he does to him...don't lose your cool...if you do anything reckless, he'll kill him on the spot," instructed Zack.

I nodded but he shook his head.

"You have to promise me Doan," he said sternly.  
"...I promise," I replied.

He nodded slowly as I followed him out into the field. True to his word, Berkley was there with Jordan on his knees. He had cuts all over his face, a blindfold over his eyes an a cloth tied over his mouth. He also had his hands bound by what I assumed to be rope.

"Ahh! Zacky my boy!" he said happily.

My heart sank more and more as I looked at Jordan's deteriorating condition; he was definitely starving as his posture looked weak. He probably didn't have anything to drink either as his lips were chapped and dried out. I couldn't imagine what kind of torture they put him through.

"So you took two days to come here!" he said.

He turned to Jordan and raised him to his feet.

"But I'm a kind man so I won't do what I said before," he said as he shoved him forward.

He then picked up the bat by his legs and much to my horror, he swung it hard and connected with Jordan's left arm. He cried out in pain and fell to the ground as Berkley shrugged and walked up to him before slamming the bat twice more on the same arm, each strike producing a blood-curdling scream. He then dropped the bat and pulled Jordan to his feet, holding him by the back of his shirt collar.

"I'll just break one instead of two since you responded to me so punctually!" he said.

I had an almost unbearable urge to run over to him, to let him know that I was there for him but Zack grabbed my hand. I turned to see rage in his eyes and it was then that I realized why he didn't do anything; Berkley was trying to make him react irrationally. Zack swallowed his pride and walked forward with me as he removed the key from around his neck. This key was the one to the main gates of the post. Berkley's eyes lit up.

"Hand it over," he ordered.  
"Him first," replied Zack.

Berkley looked at him in slight annoyance but shoved Jordan forward. I couldn't restrain myself from running forward and catching him before he fell to the ground. I hugged him deeply, absolutely relieved that he was still alive.

"I'm here...I'm here..." I whispered.  
"D-D-Doan...it's...a trap...get out of here..." he murmured.

I turned to Zack instantly and gave him a horrified look. He immediately got the message and paused.

"How do I know you won't kill me when I hand you this key?" he questioned.

Berkley chuckled.

"If you don't, you'll find out the fun way," replied Berkley.

Zack drew in a breath before whistling loudly. The signal had gone off. I quickly helped Jordan to his feet and ran as fast as I could with him back to the humvee. Berkley laughed as he raised his radio.

"Get em boys...I want that key on his neck," he said.

He turned to leave as several men on motorcycles rode forward from the trees. A single arrow flew from a tree and connected with the chest of one of the drivers, dropping him and his passenger to the ground.

"MABRY NOW!" ordered Zack.

An unforgiving volley of rifle fire erupted from the trees from Mabry's fireteam, dropping more of them. Berkley turned around with a smile as he got into his humvee. Six more riders came from the trees with two of them having a passenger cart with a man carrying a machine gun. Zack cursed as he broke into a sprint towards the humvee which I had gotten Jordan into and taken cover.

"COVERING FIRE!" he shouted.

More shots rang out but only hit two riders this time until another arrow flew from Zoey's tree, connecting with the driver of a two person motorcycle and dropping him off the vehicle. The second man had no control over the bike and fell.

"Everyone fall back!" ordered Emile through the radio.

Zack finally made it to the humvee and switched it on.

"We're getting out of here...Gary, man the mounted gun," he said.

Gary nodded as he jumped over the seats and let him take the wheel. We quickly zipped out of there but the motorcyclists were in hot pursuit.

"Everybody out of there?" asked Zack.  
_"On the way to the bridge on the planned path,"_ replied Mabry.  
"Good job out there, really good shooting from all of you," praised Zack.  
_"Worry about praise later...right now, we have to get Jordan back to my lab or he's probably going to fade away from the sheer pain he's in," _said Emile.

Zack cursed loudly as Jordan groaned loudly in pain.

_"Give the radio to Doan,"_ said Emile.

Zack handed me the radio.

"I'm here Emile," I said.  
_"I need you to check if the bone in his arm is broken so I want you to remove his jacket and tell me how his arm looks,"_ said Emile.

I did as he asked as I eased him up from the seat and slowly but sure got the jacket removed. His arm was horribly discolored with black and blue swelling. I touched it as gently as I could but he groaned loudly in pain.

"Tell him it's broken..." he groaned.  
_"Ask him if they did anything else to him,"_ said Emile.

I tried to check but much to my horror, Jordan passed out.

"Emile! He's not conscious!" I cried into the radio.  
_"Not many people can handle that much stress...I can't imagine what that Russian shithead did to him..."_ sighed Emile.  
"We're nearing the blockade point!" shouted Gary.

The motorcycles still hadn't caught up but now was no time time to gain hope. Zack grabbed the radio from my hand.

"SNIPER TEAM READY!" shouted Zack.  
_"Ready and waiting sir,"_ replied Andrew.

I looked ahead to see that we had indeed made it to the highway blockade as Zack recklessly pulled the humvee onto the road and sped towards the blockade we set up.

_"Free to engage?"_ asked Andrew.  
"LIGHT EM UP!" replied Zack.

The humvee went through the opening in the road and I saw that Mabry's team had already arrived along with Zoey. I turned to see that the cyclists were still in hot pursuit but once they saw the blockade, several of them stopped before shouting at their companions to as well. A volley of gunfire followed, slaughtering the stragglers that did not heed their warning. The remaining cyclists disappeared into the trees. Zack sighed in relief as he turned to look at Jordan, who was still not conscious in my lap.

"Let's get him back...I hope we aren't too late," he said.

* * *

**15 Minutes Later- Emile's Lab**

Heart-shattering cries filled the room as Emile laid Jordan on the table.

"Flora, morphine right now," he instructed.

She nodded as she brought a stand with a bag of it attached.

"Zoey, go to the medical section and get me these items," he said as he handed her a piece of paper.  
"On it," she replied as she sprinted off.

He then turned to Frani.

"I need you to get me a syringe, a splint and a sewing kit from the first aid locker," he said.

Frani nodded and ran to get the requested items. Emile attached the end of the bag to a small needle before looking at Jordan.

"The pain's gonna go away my friend...I'll do everything I can," he assured.

He stuck the needle into his arm before picking up a mask and holding it over his face.

"Breathe in and count to five," he instructed.

Jordan obeyed him and soon, he was out cold. Emile swallowed hard as he examined Jordan's exposed torso.

"He's got a lot of cuts all over his body...but thankfully nothing major and nothing that won't heal," he said.

He then examined his left arm.

"He definitely has a broken arm...this is going to take weeks to heal," he sighed.

He looked at me and beckoned me over before handing me a large amount of cotton and disinfectant.

"While I tend to the arm, you and Flora disinfect those cuts of his," he said.

I nodded as I handed a lot of the cotton to Flora and began to wipe them off.

"They must've put him through some horrible torture...most likely trying to find out everything about the post," growled Zack.

He shook his head.

"I should've risked going there without the extra fuel...he wouldn't have had to spend a day there," he said.

Emile shook his head.

"If you went there without your fuel, you'd all be dead right now," he said.

Zack looked down as he nodded.

"I'm gonna have a word with the security force," he said.

He put a hand on my shoulder as he walked out.

"How bad is he?" I asked.

Emile shook his head.

"His arm's in really bad shape...he'll be able to use it but he can forget doing work with it for a few weeks," he said.

He removed a syringe from the drawer as he looked at him.

"What's that?" I asked.  
"The reason why our security force doesn't stay down for long," he explained.

I looked at him in shock but he raised his hand.

"Don't worry, it's not some kind of X-Men mutagen type of thing but it will accelerate the healing process greatly...it's something that I'm going to apply to his broken bone to help mend it," he explained.

He looked carefully at the arm before sinking the needle into the afflicted area and once he found the spot, he emptied the contents before drawing it out and covering the piercing point with a cloth. Just then, Zoey returned with the items and Frani returned with the other items. Flora and I had just finished disinfecting the cuts all over him.

"You're going to need these things to care for him whenever I'm not there...things are a little hectic right now but I trust Flora enough to watch over him medically until I can come to the compound...right now, he needs to rest or the compound I injected into his arm can't work effectively," he said.

I nodded as Emile took the bandage and splint from Frani and applied it to his arm, slinging it snugly over his shoulder.

"The sleeping gas will wear off in about half an hour...so it's up to him now," said Emile.

Emile rose to his feet.

"Lunch?" he asked.

I shook my head, as did Flora. Emile shook his head.

"You haven't eaten a thing all day Flora...I think he'll be fine with Doan watching over him so come eat something; he's not going anywhere," urged Emile.

Zoey held out her hand to Flora. After several seconds of what seemed to be deep and conflicted thoughts, she took it.

"I'll be right back..." she said softly.

Emile looked at me.

"If we aren't back in half an hour and he wakes up, bandage him up," he instructed.

I nodded as they left.

* * *

_I had no idea I was so tired until I stirred from my sleep. My hand was still locked with his as I brushed my hair from my face._

_"Had a good trip in dreamland?"_

_My heart raced as I looked up to see Jordan looking at me with a smile._

_"Morning beautiful," he said happily._

_I threw my arms around him and buried my face in his neck, tears now freely flowing from my eyes._

_"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry...I couldn't do anything..." I sobbed._  
_"It's alright...I understand," he whispered soothingly._

_His good arm wrapped around my back and stroked the back of my head._

_"I was reckless...I don't blame you for it at all," he whispered._

_He continued to stroke my head gently for a few moments until I leaned back to look at him. He was smiling, despite all of the hell he just went through, he was smiling at me._

_"I'm just glad I'm here with everyone...especially with **you**,"_

_I blushed tremendously at his sincere words as he put a hand on my cheek a wiped a tear from it._

_"Don't cry...your smile makes surviving all of this worth it," he whispered again._

_My eyes locked onto his but for some reason, his eyes started turning golden. His face quickly progressed into that of a Clicker..._

* * *

**Later That Evening**

I woke up with a jolt as I looked around frantically. I felt no hand in mine as my heart began to race.

"Finally awake?"

I turned around and much to my relief, Jordan was standing by the window. Someone had bandaged him up and for some reason, we were the only ones in the lab. Most of the cuts on his face had already sealed up. All in all, he looked worlds better than he did before. My emotions once again took hold of me as I ran over to him and hugged him deeply. I was amazed he wasn't hurt by the force of my body but he happily accepted it, wrapping his good arm around me and stroking the back of my head gently. I was amazed he didn't feel much pain in his right shoulder considering the stab wound he had before.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.  
"Annoyed that this stupid sling is blocking me from doing much...but otherwise I'm alright," he replied.

I released him and leaned away as I lowered my head...now feeling my guilt coming back in full force.

"I...I let you get...taken..." I sobbed.

He shook his head and smiled at me.

"I understand...you don't have to explain yourself," he whispered.

I don't know how he could be so kind to me when I literally sat there and did nothing to help him.

"If you had attacked him...Berkley would've killed you...I'm glad you didn't interfere because if I lost you...I don't know what I would do," he whispered.

He moved a little closer and lifted my chin to face him.

"Don't cry...someone as kind as you should never have to do so,"

**~ o ~**

To say that I was overjoyed to see her again was an understatement. I woke up twenty minutes ago to see that I was already bandaged so I could only assume that Emile or Flora had come and did the job was I was still out cold. I saw Doan asleep at my side and didn't see anyone else around so I slipped my hand through hers and got on my feet, feeling surprisingly energized despite my obviously broken arm. Emile did good work with me. I didn't want to remember what those Russians did to me and it was the longest day of my life. They spent the entire day...hitting me with various things like bats, whips and belts in an attempt to get me to tell them everything about the post. Despite the maddening amount of pain I was in...I didn't say a word about the post or the compound. That didn't stop them from trying however...

Then here I was now...holding her in my arms and looking right at her.

"Promise me something," she said.

I nodded.

"Don't take on everything by yourself...let us help," she said.

I opened my mouth to retort but she silenced me with her index finger.

"I don't want to hear an argument..._promise_ _me_," she whispered.

Her tone was close to breaking so I nodded.

"I promise," I replied.

She gave me one of her signature heart-melting smiles. Every time she did...I couldn't describe the feeling it gives me. It always rendered me speechless and it warmed my heart so much...and it sent an unknown million volts of red hot electricity through my body. I don't know if I had ever felt so strongly for someone before...

Seeing her happy was at first just a luxury but now...it felt like I had to do whatever it takes to ensure that her smile would never turn to a frown. Her eyes met mine and I couldn't help but stare back. The silence suddenly became comfortable and for some reason, she appeared in much greater detail.

Her beautiful brown eyes were slightly red from an obvious lack of sleep; she must've been unable to during my absence. They were still her eyes however...the very eyes I learned to adore in the past month and a half. Her face was as usual devoid of any blemishes and still held the same tan tone that she always had albeit a little darker thanks to the hot sun. Her long brown hair was still in surprisingly great condition despite the lack of hair care products but most importantly, she had the same smile...that was purely _her_.

I closed my eyes and turned away, releasing her from the embrace before my emotions got the better of me. She seemed confused as to why I turned away as I started to walk away. She however grabbed my right hand.

"Why are you running away?" she asked.

I let out a heavy breath.

"I'm trying to keep myself from doing something stupid," I replied.

I knew things would get worse if I let myself feel this for her; decisions would be clouded, judgement would be altered in her favor and irrationality was sure to follow.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

I closed my eyes tightly, feeling my courage reach a boiling point.

_"Tell her you dumb fuck...**TELL HER**!"_

"I...I can't say it," I said.  
"Remember what I said before?" she asked.

My eyes opened.

"You shouldn't be worried about you _wouldn't_ do...the rules change," she explained.

"**I LIKE YOU**!" I snapped.

My eyes shut instantly as the bottle finally popped.

"It's incredibly hard to to accept this but I **LIKE** you!" I said again.

**~ o ~**

His words made my heart skip a beat. He wasn't looking at me and his tone sounded like a mad mix of anger and sadness.

"I'm not supposed to feel this way about anyone because **NOTHING** good can come of it!" he continued.

I attempted to say something but he continued on.

"It's barely been three months..._THREE MONTHS_ and I can't get you out of my head no matter how hard I try...it's **maddening**," he said.

He had to have been bottling this up for a long time to be reacting like this; I've never heard him so disheartened and..._scared_?

"I'm going think of you in every single decision I make and that's not going to help the group...it will affect my judgement and most of all, it will make me irrational because I would do _**ANYTHING** _to not put you in danger so if you thought I was reckless **BEFORE**? That's **NOTHING** compared to how I'll be...if..."  
"If what?"

He turned to look at me, clearly still deep in conflict in his mind. He just admitted the way he felt about me...and he thought it was a **_bad_ **thing? He opened his eyes.

"If this,"

I barely got to react as he placed his lips on my forehead, kissing it gently. I blushed profusely at the gesture as he moved back.

"I tell myself that I shouldn't allow myself to care so much...but I can't help it when it comes to you," he explained.

He then turned away, his face now drained of happiness and replaced with regret.

"I'm...sorry," he said.

His eyes closed.

"I didn't want to say anything anymore...but when I was in that compound...you were the only thing that kept me going," he said.  
"W-W-What?" I said in surprise.

He looked away.

"They tortured me...there were a few times I contemplated just letting them end it all but I wanted to come back to everyone...to the group that we now call our family and...to _you_," he said.

He shook his head and turned around.

"Everything I just said has been long since coming...and the last thing I wanted to do was to make everything awkward and strange which I'm positive I just did," he continued.

He tried to leave but I immediately ran ahead of him as I looked at him.

"Why are you running away from what you feel?' I asked.

He looked at me, still deep in conflict mentally.

"Have you ever once thought about...how _**I**_ might feel?" I asked.

I would be lying if I said I didn't understand the conflict but at this point, I didn't give a damn; I felt quite strongly for him too. He wasn't the definition of a dream guy...not by any stretch of the imagination but after spending so much time with him, he really grew on me. I didn't even pause to consider my own feelings...not until that night he danced with me.

That single day felt like a year...I blamed myself for not being good enough to help him and I punished myself but once he told me that he didn't blame me...it was like I confirmed my feelings for him. Sure he took life very seriously but considering that he became the de-facto leader of the group and he's the main reason most of us are still around. Despite how serious he was, he was always there for us. He takes good care of all of us...and I loved how kind he was. The fact that he didn't blame me...and the fact that he had the courage to tell me how he feels despite how stubborn he is...it confirmed everything I was feeling. I now knew for sure that I would rather face the problems than keep it in.

I was about to speak but much to my surprise, he captured my lips in a kiss. He had removed his broken arm from the sling to awkwardly place it behind me and used his free hand to gently cup my cheek. My body tensed for a moment and as quickly as the contact came, it disappeared. I looked at him to see that his eyes were so passionate, as if he were hoping for reciprocation...then he closed his eyes and turned away.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

I didn't realize that I got backed up into the wall...but he began to move away. I put a hand on his cheek, causing his face to snap back and focus on me.

"Don't be..."

I was thoroughly amazed that he did that of his own accord...when he previously barely had the courage to look me dead in the eyes. Despite it being slightly sloppy...he was a decent kisser.

His face was sincere but I could see deep fear in his eyes. So I did what came naturally...

**~ o ~**

"Do that again..." she whispered.

I couldn't believe my ears. I opened my mouth to retort but I was once again silenced by her finger.

"Don't talk...just do what I say," she whispered.

I took a breath and leaned towards her once more. She responded by gently holding my shirt collar and pulling me in to kiss her again. My good arm automatically wrapped around her waist and my left arm moved out of the way of her body as she leaned into me, deepening the kiss. I had no clue what I was doing but the fact that she didn't pull away made me believe I was doing something right. I tried to move but my legs refused to respond. My brain sent futile impulses for my limbs to move but my arm was perfectly content resting on the small of her waist. Those few seconds felt like days until I broke away from her, not realizing that we had somehow backed up into the couch. I dropped to it and sighed as I tripped backwards.

_"Way to go Cassanova..."_

She didn't seem at all disappointed. In fact, she simply laughed softly before joining me on the couch and leaning her head on my shoulder.

"This was not how I pictured this would unfold," I said, still stunned.  
"Expect the unexpected," she replied.

I turned to her.

"...I'm not going anywhere again," I said.

**~ o ~**

I never imagined that someone who has never dated a girl before would be such a good kisser. He was extremely nervous and his heart was going so crazy that I was sure it was going to jump through his ribs and run outside. He was however...very gentle. No one would be able to tell that he was capable of being so gentle if they saw the way he trains with parkour and swordsmanship or even the way he kills the infected...but he didn't make a move beyond simply kissing me. I knew at that moment that his feelings weren't superficial; many guys tried to get with me whenever I visited the post but they used words such as "hot", "smoking" or "sexy" but he never used words like that. Incredible, Lovely, Intelligent, Kind-Hearted, Encouraging, You, Optimistic, Upbeat...those were a lot of the words he used to describe me. It made me warm inside...to know that he never once thought like those other guys who clearly just wanted what they could see.

"You better not," I snapped.

He responded with a smile and lifting my chin up to kiss me once more.


	13. Remaining Hope

**(A/N): Remember when I said this story was gonna start getting real?**

**Prepare yourself. Breaking the tradition of every two chapters then journals because I feel this is more important at the moment.**

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own _The Last Of Us_**

* * *

**Chapter 9: Remaining Hope**

* * *

**The Following Afternoon- Berkley's Compound**

"We can't waste this chance...if we can take them down, we can end their influence in this state," said Zack.

I closed my eyes.

"We can't let their sacrifices be in vain..." I murmured.

Zack placed a hand on my shoulder.

"If we're going to get that lab nearby here...we have to secure this place for ourselves and if we do that, it'll be a hell of a lot more practical for your research," he replied.

I nodded slowly.

"Andrew...Gary...may they rest in peace..."

* * *

**_Earlier That Morning_**

_"DR. FADEL!"_

_I turned with a jolt to see one of our scouts with an absolutely horrified look on his face._

_"COME QUICKLY!" he screamed._

_I looked to Lily as we both scrambled from our seats and ran towards the north gate. Much to my horror, Gary and Andrew were on the ground...bleeding profusely. I swallowed hard as I approached Gary and tried to feel for a pulse. His hand shot up and grabbed my wrist._

_"We...we were scouting for the compound...but they came at us...there was nothing we could do..." he groaned._

_I shook my head vigorously._

_"Rest...you need help," I said._

_Gary shook his head._

_"I've been bitten...Berkley's lackeys dropped us nearby and left us to crawl over here..." he explained._

_I cursed loudly._

_"Is Andrew..." I began._

_Gary nodded._

_"He's worse than me...but we managed to keep this from them..."_

_He reached into the large satchel on his waist and removed a folded up map. He then placed it in my hand._

_"We marked...everything about that place...and there's another place...that you..."_

_He coughed out a lot of blood before swallowing hard._

_"There's...a lab five miles from his compound...it's the place that you've needed to advance your research...we marked everything about it as well..." he said._

_I closed my eyes, tears beginning to well up as Zack came running._

_"What the hell happened?"_

_He looked in horror at Gary's fading state as he crouched down._

_"N-N-No..." he stammered._

_Gary smiled as he grabbed Zack's hand._

_"We got the job done..." he said._

_Zack swallowed hard as he gripped his friend's hand._

_"...Give em hell," he choked._

_I could do nothing as he died...right in my arms._

_"You won't have to turn...thank you," I said._

_I closed his eyes for him as I turned to Andrew but much to my horror, Andrew was on his feet. He turned to me, his eyes now golden._

_"LIGHT HIM UP!" shouted Zack._

_The guards immediately filled Andrew with bullets, dropping him like a rock. Just like that...two of our greatest friends...were gone..._

* * *

**Present Time**

"Gary managed to get a full look at the place so the plan looks like this," I said.

I rolled out the map.

"Berkley wasn't very smart when he decided commission two of the gates...so one of them is the back gate which he believes that no one knows about," I explained.

I then pointed at the extra spot Gary marked down.

"Gary says that there is a large laboratory that's full of spores...if we can capture the compound for ourselves, it would be feasible to get Emile over here so he can continue his research," I continued.

Mabry nodded.

"It's a shame that Jordan is still injured; he'd love to get his revenge on these shitheads for all they've done to him and Flora," said Kyle.  
"We left all the girls back at the post with him to ensure that there's no plan on the side...I'm sure that we can do this if this is done right," said Mabry.

I nodded in agreement.

"Remember your roles...stay safe out there," I instructed.

Mabry shook my hand and Kyle put a hand on my shoulder.

"We'll radio you the moment we get it done so you can proceed with phase 2," said Kyle.

The pair of them ran off as I looked to the map. For some reason...I believed I saw this map before.

_"This place...where have I seen this before?..."_

My eyes widened as the truth suddenly became crystal clear.

* * *

**A Few Minutes Later- Behind The Compound**

"_Taking the shot..._"

Mabry squeezed the trigger and felled the guard almost instantly, connecting with the head and sending a splatter of blood onto the wall. I was thankful that we remembered to make more of our homemade suppressors else that shot would've been extremely loud. I then jumped down from the tree, landing on another guard's back before swiftly snapping his neck. I quickly rolled into a bush as the third guard came forward, clearly hearing the impact of my fall. He moved close and I drew Jordan's sword from my back.

_"Thanks buddy...I'll put this thing to good use,"_

I stood up and waited for him to go past me before I stabbed him directly through the throat. I viciously drew the sword from it's position and kicked him down, leaving him to bleed to death. I turned the dial on the radio.

"Setting the bait and getting the door open...cover me," I said.  
_"Roger that,"_ he replied.

I flicked the sword clean of any blood and sheathed it and moved to the large blast doors. I removed the device from my bag and placed it on the ground, setting it for 10 minutes.

"We have ten minutes until this place becomes infected city...we need to get these doors open," I said.  
_"On my way down,"_ said Mabry.

Soon enough, he joined me as I looked down at my stopwatch to see that we had 9 minutes and 22 seconds left. I walked up to the small door but much to my annoyance, it was locked. Mabry however smiled and knocked on it.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked.

I immediately got behind the door as it opened, only for Mabry to use the butt of his rifle to land a strike to the back of the guard's neck. I shook my head.

"Let's get this done," he said.

We made our way inside and much to our delight, we found the switch to open the gate but it was guarded by three large men. I looked to Mabry and pointed to the forklift. He nodded as he made his way to it and aimed his rifle. I climbed onto the crates, making sure to be quiet so they couldn't hear me. Once I was satisfied with the distance, I drew both my combat knives from my jacket and leaped from the crates, landing directly on the two men in front of the gate switch and stabbing one with both knives. The third man raised his gun to fire but the splatter of blood from his made me sure he was no longer an issue as Mabry quickly pulled the trigger and ended the threat. Before final guard could recover, I stabbed both my knives into his throat and removed them, swiftly ending his life. I pressed the button, causing the gates to open up.

"Everything's in place," I said.  
_"Good job now get out of there before the device goes off,"_

I motioned to Mabry as we quickly made our exit.

* * *

**Meanwhile- The Front Gate**

"We'll have roughly 15 minutes before the whole place is overrun with Infected so we have to move quickly...Berkley will most likely be inside the large building in the center of the compound," said Zack.

The squad nodded.

"I'll make sure he dies..." I said.

Zack turned to me, clearly nervous about my mission and the danger it entailed. I shook my head.

"I'll be fine..." I assured.

He looked away, clearly disheartened. His decision to trust me had to have taken quite a degree of willpower and trust. I hugged him deeply.

"I'm not leaving you alone...I promise," I said.

He nodded as I immediately began to get to my position. Soon, a deafening screech followed by a loud air horn filled the air. I could already hear a lot of Runners screaming as they began to run towards the source of the sound. I saw the guards in the tower immediately turn to answer the threat in the back, signaling us to make our move. I took the three volunteers with me as we stealthily made our way into the base. I assigned the three of them to take care of their targets.

Our plan was to ensure that there was no possible escape for Berkley and his second in command and in order to do that, we had to ensure that their armory was inaccessible and we had to seal off their second escape route, which was an entrance to an underground tunnel somewhere within the compound. Having been here before, only I knew where that was so I took it upon myself to do this task. The team immediately went to secure the armory, promising to stay in radio contact should anything go wrong. I thankfully found the entrance to the tunnel after two minutes of running. After sealing the large metal door with the locks, I wedged a piece of iron in the door handle and managed to bend it enough to not allow it to be pulled out. My attention then turned to the middle tower.

_"I'm coming for you asshole..."_

I quickly made my way to the building to see two guards who hadn't left their posts. I quickly drew an arrow and aimed carefully. Letting it fly, it whistled through the air and connected with one of their heads, silencing them almost immediately. The second man attempted to call for help but I shot the second arrow, producing the same result as the first. I quickly put my bow on my back and drew my pistol as I made my way into the tower. I slowly ascended the stairs and much to my surprise, Berkley seemed to be waiting for me.

"Bravo! A noisemaker at the back gates and then a small strike team to take the base down while everyone's distracted!" he said clapping.

I raised my gun at him but much to my confusion, he made no attempt to defend himself.

"Is your friend doing well?" he asked.

I knew he was referring to Jordan who was still recovering from his broken arm.

"He's a good fellow you know; wouldn't talk no matter what my men did to him," he continued.

He shrugged as he reached for his glass of whiskey and downed it completely.

"He however did reveal a weakness...which the whole gang knows about," he said.

He then raised a picture and much to my horror, it was of Doan and Jordan.

"He has a weakness for this girl does he? I should've figured as much considering that he let himself get caught in order to save her," he continued.  
"What do you mean?" I asked.

He smiled.

"You do speak! Well then allow me to explain myself," he said.

He placed the glass down, still making no move to defend himself.

"He could've killed me but he knew that if he made any attempt to do so, I would've simply pulled the trigger and sent that herd of Infected on her so he instead allowed himself to be taken," he explained.  
"So...you're telling me that he was being a martyr?" I asked.

Berkley nodded.

"Men do crazy things when they're in love you know...even if the other person doesn't feel it back for them," he said.  
"What do you mean? She cares for him," I said.

Berkley shook his head.

"I can tell by just looking at the girl; she pities the poor boy...such a shame, he's a fine man but he just didn't get lucky," he said shrugging his shoulders.

He then reached for his radio. I was about to pull the trigger but Berkley raised his hand, telling me to wait.

"Men, we're evacuating the compound, make no move to harm anyone on the way out because we're heading east," he said.

I was completely confused to his reasoning for this.

"I know who you are Zoey Lee; you're the one who accidentally created the mutant strain of the fungus that originates from that lab to the east of here are you not?" he asked.  
"How the hell do you know that?" I snapped.  
"I went into that lab out of curiosity and found your name plastered on a lot of things...do your friends know what you did?" he asked.

My eyes narrowed as he shook his head.

"Honesty wins people's hearts...I wonder what Zack would think if he knew that you were partially to blame for the deaths of his friends," he said.

I again raised the gun at him.

"You killed Gary and Andrew!" I growled.  
"I did not; they were already bitten by the time my men found them so all we did was ensure that they did not turn," he replied.

Despite him being a cruel man...I didn't detect a single lie in the words he spoke.

"I'm not a horrible man my dear contrary to the way I appear...I only did what I did to your friend because I was following orders," he explained.  
"From who?" I asked.

He shook his head.

"The leader of The Fallout Gang that originates from Washington ordered me to take the trading post...but I can't bring myself to do so," he said.  
"What made you change your mind?" I asked.

I lowered my gun as Berkley showed me a picture.

"My wife...she was infected within the first two weeks of the outbreak...I had to kill her and our unborn child in order to survive," he explained.

He looked away.

"I thought The Fallout would give me a chance to bring humanity back from extinction...but all it's done is made me take innocent lives and I no longer wish to be a part of it so my men and I are going to settle in the east...where we'll help rebuild," he said.

He picked up his jacket and turned to me.

"You have no reason to believe a word I am saying right now...but I will leave in peace if you will allow us to...if you wish for justice to be served then go right ahead," he said.

He approached me and raised the gun to his head and placed it against it.

"I know what I have done wrong...if my death will make you all feel better then go right ahead but if you don't kill me, you can count on me to help rebuild," he said.  
"Your men know about Doan and Jordan...how do I know they won't come for them?" I asked.  
"My men have sworn to follow what I have told them to do; The Fallout is a different matter but now that you know about their intentions, you can take steps to ensure their safety," he explained.

I wanted to pull the trigger; this was the man that caused the Post a lot of pain and misery...but was killing him really worth it? I narrowed my eyes and lowered the gun. He nodded.

"I will be in contact via hawk and expect trade to begin within the next month," he said.

He left the room without a further word as I turned my radio on.

"Compound secure," I said.  
_"Did you kill him?"_ asked Zack.  
"I'll explain everything when we settle in here; send the hawk to tell the others to get over here while we clean up the infected still inside," I said.  
_"Alright,"_

I swallowed hard as I made my way downstairs.

_"Hopefully...they'll handle the truth well..."_

* * *

**Later That Evening- The New Compound**

"Everything cleaned out sir,"

I nodded in gratitude.

"Head back to the post for some rest...you've all earned it," I replied.

He nodded gratefully to me.

"We'll be waiting for you," he replied.

The squad of volunteers got into their truck and made their way back towards the post. I went into the central building to find everyone sitting around the table. I let out a deep breath.

"I called you all here because there's a few important things I need to discuss," I said.

I first turned to Emile.

"The lab nearby the compound is our top priority but because Jordan's arm hasn't completely healed yet, we've decided to wait until it's in ideal condition before we make any attempt to clear it out," I said.  
"Why can't we get some more volunteers to do it? Isn't that a waste of time?" asked Mabry.

I shook my head.

"Things are different this far up north; there was a reason Berkley had so many guards on duty," I explained.  
"More infected?" asked Kyle.  
"**Much** more," I replied.

He nodded.

"I would rather we go at full strength than to leave injured here and risk anything because this place is a lot harder to lock down," I explained.

Mabry nodded, now agreeing with my train of thought.

"The next matter concerns Jordan and Doan," I said.

They turned to me.

"The Fallout knows precisely who you two are...and they're going to be gunning for the two of you," I explained.  
"Because I killed their men?" asked Jordan.  
"Because you're the one they believe runs the compound," I replied.

He closed his eyes and nodded.

"For that reason, I want you two to be much more careful even when you're making regular visits to the post," I said.

They nodded in agreement as I then turned to Lily and Zoey. My heart began to sink as I looked at the one who I had grown to adore but this had to be put out there.

"Zoey, you need to tell us all something right now and you need to make it good," I said.

She detected the slight venom in my words but she nodded regardless. Everyone turned to look at her.

"I...lied about who I was...there were things I left out that I should've said from day one," she said.

She then removed a large batch of files and folders from her bag and placed them on the table.

"I was partially responsible for the mutated strain of the fungus..." she said.

Everyone looked at her in shock, especially Lily. She made no attempt to defend herself and instead opened the files.

"I was part of a research team who sought after finding a cure for the fungus...we thought we succeeded until we discovered that our work had only resulted in the acceleration of the fungal growth," she said.

She shook her head and I saw tears streaming down her face.

"It's my fault...it's my fault that Gary and Andrew are dead...it's my fault that we lost Jessica and Vivian because the horde that attacked...every last one of them had that mutant strain present in their system...it's all my fault," she sobbed.

Much to my surprise, Jordan had somehow gotten to his feet and reached beside her without us noticing him. He shook his head.

"While I am furious that you didn't tell us the truth...you've become a sister to me...to all of us and you were only doing what you thought was right," he said.

Everyone murmured in agreement with him.

"Telling us that could've probably helped us be more careful...but then again, could it have made a difference?" he said.

He shook his head.

"I still love you like my older sister and I would never abandon you Zoey...but don't be afraid to tell us anything like this again because we aren't going to turn on you...there isn't a soul that blames you for all of this happening because you couldn't have known the consequences of a mistake," he said.

Zoey immediately hugged him and he put his good arm around her.

"You guys are like my family...I'm so sorry," she said.

Doan and Maria rose to their feet and joined in on the hug.

"You've become part of the family and we don't abandon each other...otherwise we're no better than those motherfuckers outside who eat people," said Kyle.

Zoey smiled at everyone, very grateful for them accepting her apology so well. I then smiled.

"Now that this is all settled, here's the plan..." I began.

* * *

**Later That Night- The Survivor's Compound**

"Can't sleep can you?"

I turned to see Doan standing at the stairs. I turned back around to look back at the stars, which I had now grown accustomed to looking at.

"Guilt hurts," I replied.

She joined me on the couch and hugged me.

"It's not your fault Zoey," she said.

I nodded as I looked down at the ground.

"Berkley promised to help us all in the trading...but was it the right decision to let him go?" I asked.

Doan shook her head.

"He lost his wife and his unborn child...he couldn't have been thinking straight working for people like The Fallout," she replied.

I nodded slowly but noticed something in her gaze.

"You're still thinking about that night aren't you?" I asked.

She nodded.

"You know he doesn't blame you at all right?' I asked.

She nodded.

"I still feel like I should be doing more...because he did so much for all of us," she replied.

My memories drifted back to Berkley's words and I swallowed some air.

"Can I ask you something?" I began.

She nodded.

"How do you feel about him?" I asked.  
"What do you mean?" she replied.

I put on a fake smile.

"Does he make you happy?...do you feel the same way about him?" I continued.

She looked down and smiled.

"He cares so much for me...and he never asks for anything in return...it's hard not to love that about him," she explained.

My heart began to flutter.

"I...wasn't sure at first because I just didn't look at him in that light and on top of that, it wasn't very obvious to me despite Flora chirping songs about it but...when he asked me to dance that night? That must've been when it started," she explained.

She began to blush.

"So you didn't feel for him at all?" I asked.  
"Not at first...he was a lot more like a brother to me and I think he knew that," she said.  
"What makes you say that?"  
"I saw the way he was looking at me...he looked at me with great interest at first but he stopped doing so after a while because he must've seen that I didn't view him that way," she explained.  
"So what made you see him in a different light?"

She smiled.

"The dedication he shows to not just me but to everyone...the fact that he would let himself get taken instead of risking me is something that I couldn't begin to fathom...because as we all know, the world's degenerated into a real shithole," she said.

I nodded.

"Most people won't even consider something like that but he did it without hesitating...that's something I can't even begin to describe the level of respect I have for,"

I laughed softly.

"It's a little stupid at times but considering that he went through all of what he did...the fact that he's still sane enough to care about people...that's a hell of a mind he's got," I said.

She smiled and nodded.

"When he asked me to dance...he went against his own pride and did it despite knowing that I didn't look at him like that...I think I started caring because he proved to me that his feelings were real...not like every other guy who just looks at me and goes crazy," she explained.

I shook my head.

"I take it a lot of guys try to get with you on a regular basis?" I asked.

She nodded, laughing nervously.

"He's a good guy...I really hope you two are happy," I said standing up.  
"It's new...but I'm willing to try; I don't have anything to lose and besides...I can finally make those guys at the post stop swarming me," she said shrugging.

I flicked her in the forehead.

"Be happy! God knows I don't wanna see you the way you were when he was gone," I said in an almost scolding tone.

She smiled at me.

"What about you and Zack?" she asked.

I looked towards the ground and smiled.

"He's been so good to me...and after spending so much time with him, he really makes me happy...so naturally I gave him a chance and he didn't disappoint me at all," I replied.

I turned to her.

"Give it that mindset and I know your doubts will go away," I explained.

Before she could say another word, I left the roof.


	14. Journal Entries: Doan Le

**(A/N): Time to enter the mind of one of the most requested characters.  
**

**Thanks to everyone for the support. It's been awesome so far. Let's keep this going shall we?**

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own _The Last Of Us_. I am merely using an altered world inspired by the masterpiece created by _Naughty Dog_.**

* * *

**Journal Entries #1 &amp; #2: Doan Le**

* * *

**_Date: March 30th 2015_**

_I had another nightmare about that day..._

_I kept seeing what it might've been like to see him suffer at the hands of those bandits. I managed to get him to open up about it but he made me promise him never to tell Flora._

_Berkley was an expert in interrogation and he used a lot of different methods. He had his men beat him with thick torn leather and never gave him a moment to catch his breath from screaming. He would then have them douse him in iced water so his body would become numb only to once again be met with pain. The fact that his body was able to heal so well was something I was truly amazed at._

_Once Berkley understood that he wouldn't talk with physical torture, he started using what he learned about Zack and everyone else against him. He threatened to kill Flora and I if he didn't fill him in on everything at the post, going so far as burn the photos he had of his mother and father and even the photo he had of Flora and him when they were kids. Still, Jordan didn't tell him a word. After all of this, Berkley realized that there was no way he could force him to speak so he used Jordan as bait to lure Zack out. Thankfully, Zoey's plan worked and we were able to repel the attack...it still, watching him get hit with that bat was so painful...it probably hurt me a lot more than it did him._

_It was my fault that he was put in that position...if I had been faster and less scared, I could've prevented it all from happening. Not a single person blamed me for it...not even Jordan himself but I couldn't help but believe it was my fault regardless. It's something that tortures me everyday and every time I see Jordan with his arm broken, it reminds me that it was because of me why he was like that._

_He never let me beat myself up about it though and even though he couldn't do much, he was always there to encourage me. He would come out and watch me train with the wakizashi he gave me and would give me pointers as well as a workout routine to ensure I was in prime condition to wield it. I wasn't able to keep up with all of the things he wanted me to but I know I was stronger and faster than I was last time because swinging the sword became much easier. There were even times he allowed me to use his katana though he much preferred I used the wakizashi to avoid straining my muscles._

_It was not an easy task...but I was willing to put the effort into it. He also didn't go easy on me either; he had me spar against Kyle a few times and he was much further ahead in the training than I was. I got my butt kicked quite a few times but Kyle was definitely a lot more in practice than me. He was a natural with things that required agility and I could see why Jordan always called him a ninja._

_Apart from sword training...everything else has been normal. Everyone's been good. All that was left was to wait for Jordan's arm to get better so we could get the clearing plan underway._

_I guess I needed to write about this to make myself feel better...I didn't realize how guilty I truly felt until I had that nightmare last night..._

_Maybe I'm losing my sanity...or maybe I was doing the same thing Jordan used to do; blame myself for everything._

_I need to get better and I need to focus because I can't afford to keep this distracted mindset...especially if we hope to clear that lab._

* * *

_**Date: April 10th 2015**_

_I can't believe how quickly the March flew by. It felt like it was only yesterday that Jordan had just returned to us._

_I don't know what kind of compound Emile used in his arm but Jordan was already able to use it again. Granted he still can't wield his sword as well as he used to but I guess he'll just have to retrain his arm. The stab wound disappeared without a trace as well so it was as if he never got injured in the first place. I'm very glad that he's back to normal but he unfortunately got really sick since about two weeks ago. We had to abandon our plan to transfer compounds for the week in order to clear out the lab because he got sick._

_Emile made regular visits to check up on him as well as Kyle who got injured on a hunting accident. Kyle ended up severely spraining his left ankle but he was able to overcome it pretty quickly, mere days before Jordan's arm was good enough to no longer be in a cast. Things were looking up for once I guess._

_I really thought about what Zoey said to me that night...because I had no idea just how deeply my feelings ran for him. I definitely cared for him; there's almost nothing he could ask me to do that I wouldn't try to but how exactly did I feel?_

_He spent most of his time resting and sleeping with that sickness of his so he didn't really spend time with me apart from when we slept. During the days, he would leave the bed quarters only when he had to use the bathroom or to shower; Flora took his food to him so he wouldn't have to stay on his feet. I knew that he cared deeply for me...not as much as he does for his sister but definitely close. Zoey told me a few days ago the reasoning behind her question; Berkley had made an assumption and she wanted to know if he was right or wrong. I definitely didn't do this out of pity and I genuinely enjoyed his company. I loved how he treated me as an equal and didn't baby me on anything and most of all, I loved the fact that his judgement didn't change as he said it would. He was still the same guy I knew all this time...only now he kisses me._

_I'm pretty anxious for his arm to get better; he promised me that he would teach me swordsmanship and I read as much as I could about Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu and even practiced it but because the sword that had to be used to really learn the principles was a katana, which Jordan gave to Kyle to use as his own until he got better. I kissed him goodnight a few minutes ago and he seemed to be feeling a lot better after Flora made him garlic tea and made him eat some kind of herbal mixture she read about. Considering the smell of that tea, he had to care a lot about her to stomach something that smelled as awful as that!_

_I'd say it'd take about a week for everything to get back to normal...maybe when he's better, I can really sit down and get to know him because most of the time I spent with him was sleeping._

_For once...I think I believe we can get through this._

_We just need to clear out that lab for Emile and company to get started on their work for the vaccine. Then at least, we won't have to worry about being infected. The cure can come later I guess...but being able to walk into spore infested areas without a gas mask would be nice._

_Here's hoping he feels better because he didn't talk today at all...and he just went to sleep._

_Will write again once we arrive at the new compound._


	15. From Seeds To Blossoms

**(A/N): Keep going while the writer's high is here! Let's do a little chilling here with this chapter here.**

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own _The Last Of Us_ but if I did, I'd be the happiest gamer alive.**

* * *

**Chapter 10: From Seeds To Blossoms**

* * *

**The Following Morning- The Compound**

I stirred from my slumber and much to my surprise, I didn't feel tired. I didn't feel weakened in the least. I moved my arm and much to my delight, I didn't have much difficulty at all. I was about to get to my feet until I felt a familiar warmth and soft breathing. Doan was still fast asleep beside me.

_"This has to be the most peaceful I've ever seen her sleep...can't imagine the torture she went through when I got taken,"_

I looked around and much to my surprise, everyone was gone...even Flora. I walked to the door and took one last look at her before smiling, remembering the moment we had that night.

_"That kiss...I'll never forget it for as long as I live,"_

I peered outside to see that everyone was hard at work. Mabry was cleaning all of the firearms that we had at the small armory we put together. Kyle appeared to be working out as he pummeled a punching bag that he put up with flurries of kicks and swift strikes. Flora and Francesca appeared to be sorting out spices and herbs.

_"That's my little sister alright...always looking at the medicine,"_

I then saw Maria and Zoey looking at a map spread out on a table with Zoey making marks on it with a sharpie. Zack was sitting with the two of them, evidently discussing said marks. Even though it was more than a month ago...I missed Jessica and Vivian; it just didn't feel the same without the two of them because we had become a family. I had finally forgiven myself for killing Jessica which certainly helped with my PTSD...but the hardest part of living in these times as that one still had all the memories. Much to my surprise, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Best sleep of your life eh lad?"

I turned to see Gary smiling at me but much to my dismay, he faded away. My eyes narrowed.

_"Rest in peace my friend..."_

"Something wrong?"

I turned to see a man I had never seen before.

"Nothing...just reminiscing on the past," I replied.  
"I'm sorry about Gary and Andrew...must've been rough," he said.

I nodded.

"So what're you doing here? I remember you from the post," I asked.  
"We're just helping out because you can't really do much...since you would be the cook, Zack, Zoey, Lily and I ended up coming here to make sure you lot were alright," he explained.  
"Where's Lily?" I asked.  
"Kitchen; she's cooking breakfast for everyone," he replied.

I nodded as I made my way over there but he grabbed my good arm.

"Stay with your girl mate...you don't know what she was like when you were gone," he said.

I looked at him for a moment.

"What do you mean?..." I asked.

He took a breath.

"Captain Gary told me a lot about how she was because he took it upon himself to tell me everything," he explained.

He went on to say that Doan suffered greatly in that day I wasn't here. No one had told me, most likely trying to keep my conscience clear. She resorted to drinking and spending most of her time alone...not even Maria could get through to her.

* * *

_**The Day After The Abduction- The Valany**_

_I watched the others as I cleaned my SMG out from all the dust._

_Since that kid disappeared, things have just been horrible...especially at that compound of his._

_I could feel Flora's pain; she never for a moment thought that it could've been possible for her big brother to get taken away. Even though she tried to keep a smile on her face for everyone...I saw her break down a few times whenever she was alone. It was heart-breaking, a kid that sweet shouldn't have to suffer like that. Mabry and Kyle were now like the two musketeers without him around and everyday, Mabry cursed himself for not being on watch duty that night. He felt as if it was his fault why Jordan had to go check it with only Doan with it. Though he understood that Doan was learning...she was doing just that, **learning**. She wasn't experienced and she had no idea how to fire a gun with any meaningful accuracy or fight as well as any of them. Kyle continued to break down, downing an exuberant amount of alcohol in order to take his mind of off it. Jordan had become like a brother to him and though he wasn't on the same level as what Zack and Jordan had, Kyle looked up to him as a leader. I doubt there was something that he could ask Kyle to do that he would refuse._

_Maria was affected greatly as well and she refused to sing even a chirp for anyone. She felt as if she were the most useless in the group as she had absolutely no combat experience. Little did she know just how important she was because if there was one thing she could do, it was bring everyone's spirits up. Francesca spent a lot of time with Flora, weeping with her but also helping to keep her sanity intact. She too began to view Jordan as her older brother from another mother. Andrew and Jordan ended up bonding a lot over the numerous visits he made to both the compound and the post. Andrew even taught him how to fire a rifle though Jordan made it perfectly clear that he preferred lighter things. Andrew however was not worried; he knew that Berkley wouldn't risk killing him because if he did, there's no way Zack would go to meet him._

_Even I started to get a little closer to the kid and I really began to understand why everyone was crying for him. He was a good leader and he always put the needs of the group before himself. If he ever decided to join the military, I would happily serve under him the day he gets to be a better shot than me. He cares for every single person in his group and even though he's still stricken by the loss of Vivian and Jessica, he held it together very well...considering all the shit he's been through. Having to kill his own mother to protect his sister and doing a long trek from Florida all the way to the borders of Canada must've been one hell of a trip._

_It was then that my eyes hovered over Doan, who still had almost completely soulless eyes. She blamed herself for his kidnapping...but there was honestly nothing she could do so I didn't blame her at all. Jordan had no idea that he was dealing with Berkley had he underestimated him so it was really his fault...but at the same time, I doubt there was anything he could've done. Berkley didn't give a shit about his own safety and he would happily bring a horde of infected with a gunshot but he must've spared him due to figuring out how important to us he was._

_I approached her._

_"Everything alright?" I asked._

_She looked at me for a moment and I saw just how drained she was of happiness. She was always such a warm person...it was heart-breaking to see her like this. I put a hand on hers._

_"We're gonna get him back...don't worry alright?" I assured.  
"How can you be so sure..." she replied._

_Her tone was cracking, almost as if she were going to burst into tears at any minute._

_"If Berkley kills him, he'll have no leverage to get Zack to do what he wants...we're going to get him out of there so stop being down...look at everyone else," I said._

_She looked back to see most of the group absolutely in shambles before turning back to me._

_"They need someone to give them hope...I know how painful it must've been to be helpless to save him but you can't blame yourself and always remember that he acted based mainly on you," I explained.  
"What do you mean?" she replied._

_I took a breath and sighed._

_"He cares about you...very deeply I might add," I explained.  
"He cares for all of us," she murmured._

_How the fuck was she unaware of how he felt about her?!_

_"He's crazy about you...he would do anything for you and I hope you know that," I said._

_She looked as if she didn't believe me._

_"Have you ever once considered the way he looks at you? The reason why you were able to get him to dance when not a soul on this planet was able to? The reason why he always thinks of you when he makes a decision? It's not love I'll tell you that...but it's not far off from it," I explained._

_She looked at me in shock._

_"You're probably the only reason besides his little sister as to why he tries to stay strong...and whatever's happening to him at Berkley's compound right now can't be good," I continued_

_I slammed my fist on the table._

_"He took him because he wants to know everything about the post...but Jordan won't break and tell him anything because he knows it would endanger all of you...he wouldn't be able to live with himself if something happened to us and that is why we're going to get him back," I growled._

_My eyes shut tight from the rage within me._

_"I'm gonna murder that son of a bitch...for everything he's done,"_

_I released her hand as I rose to my feet._

_"Stay strong Doan..."_

* * *

**Present Time**

"...I had no idea she was so broken up by it," I said.  
"That she was mate," he replied.

I looked down as I turned towards the kitchen but his hand shot out and grabbed mine.

"She can take care of the food...just stay with her, I'll come get you two when the food's ready," he assured.

I turned back to the door and he buried his fist in my hair.

"She's a beautiful one I'll tell ya that...you're pretty fuckin' lucky to have her around," he said as he walked off.

I let out a breath as I opened the door.

_"I guess I wasn't the only one who needed rest," _

I walked back over to the bed before laying back down. Much to my surprise, Doan turned to face me. She was still very sleepy but that didn't stop her from smiling.

"How does the arm feel?" she asked.  
"Great," I said shrugging.

She made a noise half way between a giggle and a laugh.

"I'll be honest...it was really annoying to do anything with that cast," she said.

I leaned against the wall and shook my head.

"My apologies," I said shrugging.

She didn't give me a chance to say another word as she leaned up and kissed my cheek.

"Without that cast...now I don't have to worry about hurting you ," she said.

I shook my head.

"I'm a big boy...a little pain's nothing," I teased.

She raised an eyebrow before poking the skin. Unlike the first time however, I didn't wince. I rolled my eyes as she looked at me with surprise.

"Hardy har har," I mocked.

She placed her head against my chest and snuggled herself into a comfortable position.

"I'm guessing you're just not used to being up this early and not working?" she asked.  
"Yep..._definitely_ not used to this," I said nodding my head.

She leaned up and looked at me.

"Define _this_," she teased.

I raised my eyebrow.

"Let's see here..." I said as I pretended to be thinking.

I raised my good hand.

"I don't have to work, I'm allowed to sleep as much as I want to...I get to bark orders at people and not be afraid of retaliation," I listed.

She laughed softly at my words until my eyes locked with hers.

"Something I really need to get used to however...is getting to wake up and see that smile of yours," I said.

Her face softened and I was sure I saw a blush through her tan skin. I leaned forward slightly.

"And if you'll let me...I'll show you the best thing about it," I whispered.  
"And what's that?" she asked.

She got her answer when I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her close to me. I gently captured her lower lip with both of mine. The sudden tensing that she did when I made my move indicated that I thoroughly surprised her. I moved away and smiled.

"That,"

* * *

**Later That Afternoon- The Leisure Room**

"So this is what we have to do now?" asked Lily.

I nodded as I pointed towards the map.

"We'd have to get the filtration system working again and by now, the ducts have probably been encrusted with the fungus," I replied.

She put a hand to her chin.

"What if we run that compound we made a week ago? The one that kills the spores?" she asked.  
"Run it?" I questioned.

She reached for her bag and pulled out a map of the laboratory, much to my astonishment.

"Zoey had this in her notes...she gave it to me because she wanted to revisit there," she explained.

I was astonished at the level of detail Zoey put into marking it up.

"The ventilation ducts run all around the lab to every single room but what if we condensed the compound into a gas and then ran it through the central duct? Do you think we could make it safe for us to use?" she asked.

I examined the map before nodding.

"Theoretically we could...I'd have to get a lot of ingredients to make more of the compound however," I said.

She smiled as she shook her head.

"I already gathered a large supply of it with Zoey in the past few weeks...we actually produced quite a bit of it," she explained.

I smiled at her.

"So that's what you two were spending all that time doing," I insinuated.

She shrugged.

"I figured we could've used it somehow to help so it turns out that I was right," she said with a smile.

I turned from the desk to face her, slightly nervous.

"That was really proactive of you...so all we need to do now is figure out a plan to get to the lab," I said.  
"Zack's working on that...but we probably need to worry about Berkley's crew before that," she said.

I nodded in agreement but much to my surprise, she pulled a chair up and sat very close to me.

"...I've been meaning to talk to you...about what happened during that day when Jordan wasn't with us," she whispered.

I blushed profusely as her words.

"I-I-I didn't mean to...I mean...we were both kind of under duress and we drank a little and..." I stuttered.

She smiled at me.

"You and I both know that we weren't drunk that night," she said calmly.

I looked away.

"Look...I'm not gonna beat around the bush and try and hide anything so I'll be honest," I began.

I looked at her seriously.

"I've...had a thing for you for a little while...in fact, I might even say I like you...a lot," I explained.

**~ o ~**

_"Smooth words there Cassanova,"_

I smiled at him.

"I guess after seeing what happened to Jordan...just proved to me that we need to stay together even more because we have no idea if we're going to live to see another day," he said.

I nodded in agreement.

"So...it took one of our closest friends to get his arm beaten to pulp and some psychotic Russian lunatic to threaten the entire post...for you to admit that you like me?" I asked.

He turned away for a moment and let out a sigh.

"I understand if you don-" he began.

I silenced him with my finger and he turned back to me.

"Don't you dare try to tell me what I don't want," I said calmly.

He tried to retort only for me to remove my finger and kiss him full on the mouth. I could tell I caught him off guard but I simply grinned at the absolutely flustered look on his face. His glasses had drooped slightly and he adjusted them before clearing his throat.

"I like you too Emile,"

* * *

**Later That Evening- The Leisure Room**

"So that's the plan?" I asked.

Emile nodded.

"There's no way we're going to be able to safely get into that lab unless we can get the compound into the ducts...once the compound is in, we need to give it at least four days to wipe out all the spores in there," he said.  
"This compound of yours can really kill the fungus that well?" I asked.

He nodded.

"I came up with it to be used as a way to not have to burn everything...so it was a good thing I kept the formula around," he explained.

I smiled at the idea.

"So we'll head there in the morning," he said.

I nodded in agreement.

Emile nodded as I rolled up the map and dropped it in my bag. I clapped loudly as I turned to everyone.

"Alright! Now that this is all over, how bout we get this party started!" I shouted.

Emile shook his head as Gary turned the music on, filling the room with upbeat dance music.

"Maria? Would you care to sing us a song to start off the night?" I asked.

She smiled at me as she got up to the microphone.

"I want to take the time to thank everyone for their efforts...we got Jordan back and we're all happy to have him back in one piece and congrats on getting well again!" she said.

A huge round of applause followed her words. She then looked at Jordan and noticed that he was at the bar counter, holding Doan's hand.

"HAS IT FINALLY HAPPENED?!" she cried.

Everyone turned to see that he was indeed holding her hand but unlike before, he didn't try to hide it. Much to my astonishment, he smiled and looked at her lovingly.

_"You've evolved my friend...bout damn time you started being happy,"_

"Then this song is going out to the two of you!" she cheered.

She quickly made her way to the speaker system and cycled through the songs before choosing one, filling the room with a familiar melody.

_"Holy shit...she's got good taste in music...**My Hands By Leona Lewis**?"_

She began to sing and I looked towards them. Jordan walked around the counter before politely holding his hand out. She blushed profusely before taking it as he led her to the floor. He then placed a hand on her waist and held her other hand as they began to dance to the song. I looked to see Flora absolutely beaming at her brother's courage and Frani simply looked on in amazement. The small gathering erupted into cheers as I looked to Zoey. She was smiling, clearly happy that the two of them were finally beginning to act like a couple. I held my hand out to her.

"May I have the dance?" I asked.

Zoey smiled brightly at me before taking my hand. We followed suit with their example, dancing in sync with Maria's gentle pace. I then looked to Emile, mouthing my usual _GET THE FUCK ON THE FLOOR. _

**~ o ~**

I cleared my throat and turned to Lily, who was finished a drink that Jordan had made her earlier.

"Would you like to dance?" I asked.

She looked at me and smiled before nodding. That smile of hers...it was just so good at being contagious. I took her hand and went to the floor and attempted to follow the same position as the others. She leaned into my chest instead and started to rock. I blushed profusely and I knew Zack had to have a shit-eating grin on his face right now if he was looking towards me. Maria continued to sing as beautifully as she always did and I found myself getting lost in the moment as my hands encircled her waist and held her closer.

It wasn't long before Maria reached the second chorus and I opened my eyes to see that Doan and Jordan were looking intently at each other. Much to my surprise, she moved in and kissed him, not even remotely caring about the watchful eyes. Unlike before when he was nervous however, Jordan simply moved his hands into an embrace and kissed back. I looked to Zack and Zoey and they were already in a deep kiss. I looked down at Lily who was still content just rocking to the song. I removed a hand from her waist and touched her cheek. She looked up only for me to close the distance and kiss her. She tensed for a brief moment but threw her arms around my neck and kissed back.

Best night...**ever**.

* * *

**Later That Night- The Bed Quarters**

"Everyone alright?" I asked.

Emile murmured loudly as did Lily, clearly still having stomachaches from their drinking.

"I warned you guys not to drink on an empty stomach," I sang sarcastically.

Emile shook his head as Lily joined him in the bed. I looked at Zack and Zoey who were already out cold. I shook my head and laughed softly.

"Goodnight you guys," I said.

I turned the lights off as I shut the door, turning to Doan.

"Everyone alright?" she asked.  
"They had a bit too much...I feel kind of bad for making it for them," I said scratching the back of my head.

Doan shook her head.

"I guess Lily did all that cooking for us!" she said laughing heartily.

I shrugged as we walked to the second sleeping area. We opened the door to see that Frani was fast asleep but Flora was still awake. I approached her and hugged her.

"Had a good time?" I asked.  
"I'm just glad that you're not hurt anymore," she replied.

I waited for her to get into the bed and I kissed her forehead.

"We've got a long day tomorrow," I sighed.

Flora then gave me a very suggestive wink, causing me to blush profusely. I turned away before dousing the lights and leaving the room with Doan. We returned to the new bed quarters to find Mabry and Kyle fast asleep. We made our way past them quietly, into the room that Doan slept in by herself. She decided to give Maria her own space and moved into here.

"Have a good night," I said with a smile.

I turned to leave only to feel her hand grab mine.

"Stay...please?" she asked.

I blushed tremendously as I nodded.

"Alright," I replied.

I turned to the window and looked out of it, giving her time to change into her sleepwear. Once she did, I removed my shoes and climbed into the bed with her, allowing her to snuggle right beside me. I soon began to feel sleep takeover until I felt her shuffle. I looked towards her to see that she was on her elbows, looking right at me.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

She shook her head.

"I'm just glad you're back to normal now," she replied.

I nodded.

"...One of the soldiers told me about what happened when I was gone," I began.

She looked down, clearly disappointed in herself for reaching such an all time low. I leaned forward and put my hand to her chin, lifting it to face me.

"It's not your fault...alright?" I said soothingly.

She looked deep into my eyes, scanning for signs of a lie but found none.

"I'm here...and I'm not going anywhere ever again," I said solemnly.

She smiled slightly before closing her eyes. I kissed her deeply and she responded by crawling on top of me and laying down. I had no idea what I was doing and before I knew it, both our shirts found themselves on the floor.

_"Violet lace?...that's looks **really** good on her..."_

My brain entered autopilot and after a few very heated minutes of tossing, turning and the absolute most intense kissing of my life, I forced myself to stop; things were getting too intense. She however didn't seem at all offended by the pace...in fact, I'd say she _wants_ it to continue. I closed my eyes and let out a deep sigh.

_"As amazing as that would be...now's not the time,"_

I attempted to back away but she held my hand, shaking her head.

"If you think I'm drunk...think again," she said.

My eyes widened.

"You...want to..." I whispered.

I got my answer when she blew out the candle and lay back down on me, laughing softly at what was clearly my still innocent mind trying to be chivalrous.

"Wasn't it obvious before?" she said with a wink.

I scratched the back of my head nervously but she again put her hand on mine.

"Don't worry about outside influences; you know I wouldn't let you lay a hand on me unless I wanted you to," she said.

I sucked in a heavy breath, my heart now going so insane that it pounded painfully against my ribs. A million and one reasons entered my brain for not doing this, the most important reason being that now of all times wasn't..._safe_. The look in her eyes however...took away my worries. I reached for my wallet and removed the one thing that could set my mind at ease with this. I turned back to her before smiling.

Let's just say the rest of that night...was really...**really** memorable.


	16. Painful Memories

**(A/N): We approach the end of the road my friends. Thanks to each and every one of you for your support. I couldn't have done this without all of you. Thank you for helping me to reignite my love of writing.  
**

* * *

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own _The Last Of Us_**

* * *

**Chapter 11: Painful Memories**

* * *

**The Following Morning**

I slowly stirred from my slumber, feeling rather tired and even a little..._sore_.

I let out a lazy yawn and attempted to move my body only to realize that there was an arm around. A familiar warmth brought me back to reality before I blushed profusely.

_"We...really did do that didn't we?"_

I smiled as I wiggled myself free of his arm and put back on my missing shirt and shorts. I turned back to see him still fast asleep.

_"I...don't regret it even one bit,"_

He soon stirred and I was at his side immediately, kissing him on the cheek. He smiled at me and let out a drawn out yawn.

"What time is it?" he asked.  
"7 AM," I replied looking at my watch.

He nodded.

"Hope they don't mind waiting till 11...cause I'm still tired," he groaned.

I laughed as I rejoined him in the bed, laying on his chest because for some reason, I preferred him a hell of a lot more than the pillow. His eyes were no longer red from his lack of sleep, indicating that he _definitely_ slept soundly...then again, so did I.

"...I hope I we didn't wake anyone up," he said softly.

I looked at him to see the most adorable embarrassed face I had ever seen him do. I shook my head.

"We didn't make much noise...you were really gentle," I whispered.

I don't know if his face could get any redder as he cleared his throat and looked away. I shook my read, rolling my eyes.

"You know it's ok to feel embarrassed right?...it was my first time too you know," I said.  
"I-I-It was?" he stuttered.

I laughed loudly at his reaction.

"Is it really so hard to believe?" I asked raising an eyebrow.  
"I assumed you had a boyfriend before...so..." he began nervously.

I shook my head.

"I didn't do anything like that with him...trust me," I said rolling my eyes at the terrible memories of my presumably dead ex.

He closed his eyes.

"I can't think of anyone else I'd rather have done it with," he said, his tone now sincere and honest.

I blushed and lay back down.

"Flatterer," I snapped.

He shook his head.

"It's my job," he replied.

* * *

**Meanwhile- The First Bed Quarters**

"Feeling better?" I asked.

Emile shook his head as he gripped his stomach.

"Never doing tequila shots on an empty stomach again...if I'm stupid enough to try, for the love of God slap me," he groaned.

I smiled and kissed his cheek.

"Stop whining you big baby," I said.

He waved one of his hands, shooing me away from him. I laughed loudly as the door opened to reveal Mabry and Kyle.

"Everyone enjoy themselves last night?...sorry we went to sleep early," said Mabry.

I shook my head.

"He's just having a hangover," I replied.

Mabry nodded as Kyle looked at his watch.

"Let's hope he'll feel better on the car ride over; we've got two hours till we're outta here," said Kyle.

I nodded as they left the room. I looked back at Emile before flicking his forehead.

"Next time, don't be such an idiot," I said winking at him.

The look of sadness on his face that followed made my morning without a doubt.

* * *

**Meanwhile- The Second Bed Quarters**

"You alright babe?"

I nodded as he gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"Big day today so lets hope we can pull this off without a hitch," he said.

I let out a sigh.

"...Pretty painful memories back there," I said.

He held my hand.

"This time, you have friends with you and if nothing else, you have me," he said sincerely.

Zack definitely had the ability to draw me out of any foul mood I was in because no matter how down I got, he would always try to cheer me up by either making me laugh or by being what he was to everyone at the post; a great leader. Jordan had his pros and cons but if I had to choose somebody to call a leader, it would be him...but Jordan wasn't very far behind. Then again...Zack _is_ my boyfriend so maybe I was being a little biased against my self-proclaimed little brother. I couldn't do this without the two of them; Jordan was always there for me to bounce ideas off of and whenever Zack had his hands full at the post, he would be there to encourage me and let me know how important I was to everyone. Just thinking of the two of them put a smile on my face. I put my shirt and jeans back on; I had a tendency to sleep in less clothes especially since this wasn't exactly the coolest of places.

I then turned to Zack who had already gotten to his feet and put on his shirt.

"Let's get ready for this," he said.

* * *

**Four Hours Later- Outside The Lab**

"Got enough of the compound?" asked Zack.  
"We have enough to clear out the whole thing but we need to get the generator running again in order to let the ventilation system spread it," said Emile.

Jordan turned to Zack.

"So what's the plan?" he asked.

Zack pointed to the entrance of the lab.

"An unfortunate side effect of the compound is that it gives off a nasty scent that attracts Runners and because of the screaming, it will attract Clickers as well so our goal is to get the generator up and running first," he said.

He pointed to the heavily gated area.

"The generator's gonna make a LOT of noise when it first starts up so we need to set up a perimeter so they don't get in while Zoey and I get it going," he explained.

Jordan nodded as everyone moved up to the area and took defensive positions. Zack then began to tinker with the machinery. If there was one thing he was good with, it was machinery. He however had to do a lot hammering and surely enough, Runners began to congregate.

"Shit...I didn't think there were so many," said Kyle.

They soon really began to take notice of the loud hammering and drills and they soon began to sprint towards the group. Mabry swiftly downed four of them with quick shots to the head. Flora managed to take down three of them with quick bow shots, thankful that Zoey allowed her to use it as her own bow had terribly limited range. The assault continued periodically for fifteen minutes until finally, Zack cheered.

"Just need to fix the transformer and we're in business!" he said.

He quickly made his way to it before setting to work once more. Much to everyone's horror however, three Bloaters suddenly appeared. Mabry cursed loudly.

"Fucking Bloaters...and we don't have any molotovs like last time," he growled.  
"How long do you need to finish those?" asked Jordan.  
"10 minutes tops," he replied.

Jordan took a breath as he drew his sword. He then turned to Doan.

"Let's keep em busy," he said.

She looked surprised as Kyle threw them both gas masks.

"Don't let that thing grab you or else you're done for," he warned.

Jordan nodded as they both put on the masks as he walked towards the hulking infected. Doan joined him as the Bloaters got closer.

"Remember...these guys have a lot of armor from all that overgrown fungus so it's going to be difficult to damage them," he said.

Doan nodded and unsheathed her sword.

"One at a time...LET'S GO!"

The duo charged at one of the Bloaters, being very careful to not allow it to strike any of them. They scanned for a weakness in the anatomy of the hulking monster until Doan noticed a breach between it's neck and head.

"That looks soft," said Doan.

Jordan nodded as he dashed forward and attempted to slash it. The Bloater threw a punch and he just barely managed to parry the blow with the katana, being knocked back a short distance but landing on his feet. He ran at it again, this time using the fuel barrel to his right to leap and gain extra height. He managed to wedge his sword into the Bloater's head before he climbed onto its back and viciously ripped it free. He then immediately impaled it in the head, slumping it to the ground. He fell off the corpse and rolled to safety. He was panting heavily.

"Holy shit that armor is tough...I had to use all my strength to stab it in the head," he said.

He then jumped to his feet as the two remaining ones charged at the two of them. Mabry quickly fired at one of them, drawing it's attention as Kyle ran forward to keep it distracted. Jordan attempted to slash the one coming at him, only to be thrown into the air by a swift fist from the Bloater. He fell to the ground, largely intact though the wind was struck from his lungs. Doan took the chance to land a good strike on the Bloater's arm. It wasn't enough to slice it off but it made a deep cut, very nearly cleaving it off. She was however met with a solid punch to the chest, wedging her and her sword free as she flew into the grass. She rolled to her feet, gripping her chest in pain. Before it could get closer, Jordan had already leaped onto its back and stabbed it through the chest, causing it to scream in agony.

"HIT THE NECK!" he shouted.

Doan swung hard and connected with the weak spot she saw in the neck and much to her surprise, the head flew clean off from the force of the swing. She then rolled out of the way of the falling body. After drawing the sword from the slumped body, he held his hand out to her before helping her to her feet. He then turned around to see that Kyle and Mabry had already felled the third Bloater, it's head gushing blood and fungus toxin. Zack soon finished his work with the transformer. He then turned to the ventilation shafts.

"We have to get moving and get the compound flowing before they find us," he said.

Emile nodded as he took Lily to the shafts.

"Everyone! Perimeter around the shaft system!" shouted Emile.

Everyone flocked to him and did just that as he quickly loaded a large canister with the compound. Zack quickly configured the system to blow their hardest as Emile sprayed some of the compound to kill the fungus that had already grown over. Much to everyone's surprise, the fungus withered heavily and most of the encrusted vents were clear enough. Emile quickly unscrewed the cover and raised the large canister before spraying it using the hose he attached to the top of the canister. The Runners surely enough came towards the group.

"OPEN FIRE!" shouted Zack.

Muffled gunfire erupted from Mabry, Kyle, Jordan and Zack. Arrows flew from Zoey and Flora as the Runners fell one by one until the horde was thinned to a few stragglers. Flora cursed loudly.

"Out of arrows," she growled.  
"RELOADING!" shouted Mabry.

Jordan noticed that everyone had stopped firing as he drew his sword and ran forward, dispatching two of them with ease with four swift sword strokes. He then pivoted on his heel and crouched, dodging the grabbing arms of one of them and slicing it right through the stomach, bifurcating it. He then rose to his feet before kicking one of them hard in the face, knocking it to the ground before stabbing it swiftly in the forehead, killing it.

"DOWN!" shouted Kyle.

Jordan immediately rolled backwards, taking cover behind the metal barrel on his left as a new hail of gunfire brought down the remaining stragglers. Minutes passed as the survivors gathered their senses and ensured their weapons were reloaded until Emile smiled.

"That's everything! Let's get out of here!" shouted Emile.

The group swiftly made their way towards the truck to escape but much to everyone's surprise, a Runner leaped from the top of the building and landed on an unlucky member of the group...Maria. She struggled to keep it off of her as Jordan immediately turned back.

"MARIA!" he shouted.

He was about to sprint but Kyle swiftly shot past him, grabbing the sword from his hand. He managed to slash the Runner's head clean off with the sheer momentum of the swing, saving her life. He kicked the lifeless corpse off of her and grabbed her in his arms before carrying her into the truck.

"GO GO GO!" he shouted.

He examined her all over, looking for scratches or bruises but much to his relief, he found none and because she was still wearing her gas mask, she did not inhale a single spore. Kyle sighed in relief as Maria hugged him close.

"Thank you...thank you so much Kyle," she cried.

He smiled and returned the gesture.

"You're welcome," he replied with a smile.

* * *

**Five Hours Later- The Lab**

"I can't believe it worked so well..." said Zoey.

She opened the door to see that most of the fungus had completely withered and dissolved.

"We have work to do to ensure that this place is safe enough to research in...but we've done most of it already," said Emile.  
"There's still some spores in the air but those will probably die with one more round of the compound," said Lily.

Emile nodded in agreement as Zoey walked forward.

"This place...has so many horrible memories..." she said closing her eyes.

* * *

**_One Year Ago- The Day Of The Mutation's Outbreak_**

_"GET OUTTA HERE!"_

_I could only stand in horror as the Runner grabbed onto Tommy's throat and ripped it out with its teeth. I turned to run only for another one to corner me. I ducked out of the way of its grab and ran as fast as my legs could carry me until I reached the exit to the Live Subject Wing. I ran out only to get grabbed. Thankfully, it was Vernon._

_"We gotta get you outta here," he said._

_I followed him to towards the exit and we reached the elevator. He then handed me his keycard._

_"Take it up and use the card to get past the security checkpoint," he said.  
"What about you?!" I screamed._

_He shook his head._

_"It's too late for me...now go!" he shouted._

_He shoved me into the open elevator as I saw him get tackled by two Runners. I screamed out his name...and I never saw him again._

* * *

**Present Time**

"If it's painful, we can just respray the compound and leave Zoey," said Emile.

She shook her head.

"I need to find someone...to see if she's still here," she said.

She removed her pistol from her pocket and activated the elevator.

"I'll be right back," she said.

Emile and Lily nodded as she went down.

**~ o ~**

_"I have to know...if she got out..."_

I carefully made my way back to the test area, absolutely astonished that the fungus was so thinned down by the spray we used in the vents. I walked back towards the Live Subject Area and much to my horror, I found Vernon...as a Clicker.

_"The compound must've killed him during the five hours we let the gas circulate...rest in peace my friend,"_

I continued on and ran into my old lab...the very one I worked in so diligently to attempt to cure this plague. I heard a loud shuffle and I raised my gun immediately. Much to my astonishment, it was a person.

"WHO'S THERE! COME ON OUT!" I shouted.  
"Z-Z-Z-Zoey?!"

My eyes widened greatly as the person revealed themselves.

"G-G-Gina?!" I shouted.

I had no idea how she was unscathed...granted she was worse for wear but she was largely unscathed...and alive.

I dropped my gun and immediately ran to hug her, absolutely relieved that she was still here.

"Oh my god...Gina..." I sobbed.

She was in a much worse state than I was as she sobbed loudly.

"You came back...you came back!" she cried.

I held her for a few minutes, relishing in the fact that I wasn't the only survivor of the team. I released her.

"How...did you survive?" I asked.

She looked down.

"I managed to get the emergency elevator on this floor open and I escaped," she replied.  
"Then where did you go?" I asked.  
"I camped myself not too far from here in a small house," she replied.  
"...So you came back here everyday?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Most days anyway...hard to let the past go," she replied.

I nodded in agreement.

"The fungus died out because of you?" she asked.

I nodded.

"So...are you recommissioning the lab?' she asked again.

I nodded once more.

"You made progress?"  
"A good amount...and I have two people who work with me as well," I replied.

She nodded.

"I'll meet you back here tomorrow morning then," she said.  
"Don't enter the lab until about 8 AM because the compound can poison you," I warned.

She nodded.

"I'll meet you at the main entrance," she said.

She then left the room and the humming of the elevator indicated that she left. I turned back to my desk and much to my surprise, it was clean.

_"Gina must've gathered them..."_

I then saw the picture of the entire team I had in a frame. It very worse for wear...but the photo was still intact. I felt tears come to my eyes.

_"Your sacrifices won't be in vain...I promise you,"_

I smiled and hugged her once more.


End file.
